In March 2009, ProjectsToday gathered information on 841 new projects entailing a total investment of Rs 71,933 crore. Compared to January & February 2009, the month saw less number of new projects being announced. However, the presence of a number of mega projects saw the total fresh investment announced in March taking a quantum jump when compared to earlier two months.

Most of the mega projects covered in this month were those projects for which MoUs were signed in January 2009 in Gujarat during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2009.

Of the 196 new projects announced in Gujarat during March 2009, 16 were of mega size with investment of Rs 500 crore or more. The surge in new projects helped Gujarat to be the top state in terms of both projects as well as total investment planned therein. Bulk of the new investment was in the Cement, Hotels, Thermal and Solar Power and Tourism sectors.

Nearly half of the fresh investment emanated in March was for setting up infrastructure projects. Around one-third of such investment was for setting up new power plants and the balance was spread across the manufacturing and mining sectors.

Within the infrastructure sector, Roadways, Community Services and Real Estate sectors attracted sizeable investments. The Electricity sector witnessed announcement of 43 new projects worth Rs 24,976 crore. Some of the prominent projects are listed below.:

ProjectsToday also collected information on 16 new solar based power plants in Gujarat. Some of them are listed below:

Though the Manufacturing sector saw rise in number of new projects being announced as compared to preceding two months, the notable project announced in the sector was by Dalmia Cement (Bharat). The company proposes to set up a four million tpa cement unit along with coal based power plant in Kachchh district of Gujarat at an investment of Rs 1,700 crore.

The Construction sector saw around 39 new Commercial complexes including Shopping malls, 36 new Hotels and 27 new Hospitals being announced across India. Expansion of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences from 1,000 beds to 1,500 beds at Panjagutta in Hyderabad district of Andhra Pradesh, was the largest investment proposal in the Hospital sector.

ProjectsToday also collected information on 83 Real Estate projects, which were at different stages of development. Among them, the biggest project was the Lodha Group of Company’s township Casa Bella at Dombivali in Thane district of Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 950 crore. The township will spread over 125 acre of land with various modern amenities like playschool, international universities, medical center, multispecialty hospitals, golf course and small business offices.

The service sector saw 257 infrastructural projects (Roadways, Railways etc.), 58 water supply schemes being announced. On 3 March 2009, NHAI invited pre-qualification bids for development of four-laning of following sections of NH-1A in Jammu & Kashmir:

The month also saw announcement of following three SEZs:

Of the total projects announced, 561 projects entailing a total investment of Rs 39,401 crore were by the State and Central government agencies. Private entities accounted for the balance 280 projects worth Rs 32,532 crore.