In October 2007, ProjectsToday monitored 516 new projects that involved total investments worth Rs.51,478 crore. Though in terms of numbers, the Services & Infrastructure sector announced a high quantum of 401 new projects; in terms of investments, the Manufacturing sector accounted for nearly 69 per cent of the total fresh investments announced in October 2007.

In the Manufacturing sector, increased investment activities were seen in Sugar, Metals and Cement sectors. The investors' focus in steel projects seems to have shifted from Jharkhand and Orissa, to West Bengal. One of the reasons for this could be the slow progress recorded by steel projects announced in these states. In October 2007, the West Bengal government signed two MoUs to set up mega steel plants at an aggregate investment of Rs.31,000 crore. The first MoU was signed with the electronics good major - Videocon Industries, to set up a 3 mln tpa integrated steel mill supported by a 1,200 MW coal based power plant at Asansol-Durgapur region in Bardhaman. This project will entail a total cost of Rs.15,000 crore. The second MoU was entered into with Jai Balaji Industries, to set up a 5 mln tpa steel plant with a 1,215 MW captive power plant, in Purulia district, all at an investment of Rs.16,000.

During October the Sugar industry attracted fresh investment proposals, in which Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka were the beneficiary states. Of the five new projects, Tamil Nadu bagged two, while the other three states won one project each. Madras Cement announced its initiative to set up the largest sugar mill amongst the five, with a capacity of 10,000 tccpd at Vengur in Tamil Nadu.

All major new cement projects announced in October concentrated in Madhya Pradesh. The state government signed a spate of MoUs with cement majors like ACC, Birla Corporation, Sanghi Industries and Shree Cements to set up mega cement plants.

Apart from cement MoUs, the Madhya Pradesh government was also aggressive in signing a number of MoUs for power projects, during October. On 27 October 2007, Prakash Industries signed a MoU with the state government for a 1,000 MW thermal power plant at Sohagpur in Shahdol. On the same date, the state signed a MoU with Reliance Power for its proposed 3,690 MW Sasan power project. Prakash Industries entered into a MoU with the state for a 1,000 MW thermal based power unit at Sohagpur in Shahdol.

During the month, a total of 20 new power projects were announced for development. Athena Kakinada Power is setting up the largest amongst these 20, which is a 2,600 MW gas based power project at Komarigiri in Andhra Pradesh. The Mumbai based construction major, Patel Engineering signed an MoU with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for a 100 MW Gongri hydroelectric power unit in West Kameng, on BOOT basis.

In the Construction sector, around 45 new commercial complexes and shopping malls were announced, across India. In addition, ProjectsToday collected information on 159 Real Estate projects, which are currently at different stages of their development. The major Real Estate project announced was a residential township - 'Cosmos City', being developed by Golden Gate Properties at Off. Mysore Road, in Bangalore. The township comprises of 3,500 residential apartments.

During October 2007, ProjectsToday also gathered information on the following six new SEZs:

Of the 516 projects announced during October 2007, 312 projects entailed a total investment of Rs.48,589 crore and were by private entities. The state and Central government agencies accounted for the balance 204 projects being worth Rs.2,889 crore.

The ever rising demand for cement has not only enticed the existing cement companies to expand their capacities, but has also attracted new players in the recent past. September saw a steel company, Chariot Steel & Power Company foray into cement. The company intends to set up a 1.06 mln tpa cement unit, along with a 0.15 mln tpa clinker unit, at Kalunga in Orissa.

Among the existing players, Dalmia Cement, Binani Cement and Mysore Cements announced additional capacity build-up plans. Dalmia Cement wants to set up 2 million tonne plant each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and increase its hold on the southern market.

The month also saw two major MoUs being signed. On 07 September 2007, Electrotherm India signed an MoU with Ningbo Olisen Bipolar Batteries Co., China for technology transfer meant for manufacturing a special kind of high energy electric two-wheeler batteries, and another MoU with Ajanta (Orpat) and United-MetalTek of Hangzhou, China, to set up a project at Morbi in Gujarat with an investment of around Rs.100 crore.

In the Construction sector, around 31 new commercial complexes and shopping malls were announced across the country. In addition, ProjectsToday also collected information on 193 real estate projects, 13 new hospital projects and 14 hotel projects which were at different stages of development.

To expand its reach further, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises announced its plans to set up one hospital each at Visakhapatnam, at Khurda in Orissa and at Chennai, with a total investment of Rs.262 crore.