In September 2007, ProjectsToday monitored 523 new projects, having a total investment of Rs.17,926 crore. The announcement of two large power projects by Central government owned NTPC, helped the Electricity sector to corner nearly three-fourth of the fresh investments announced in September 2007. However, in terms of number of new projects, three-fourth of such projects were found in the Services & Utilities sector. The manufacturing sector with 87 projects and investment of Rs.2,103 crore accounted for the balance 12 per cent of the total fresh investment announced in the month.

NTPC announced its intentions to set up a 1500 MW power project in collaboration with the Governments of Delhi and Haryana. The 3x500 MW Indira Gandhi super thermal power unit is proposed in Jhajjar, Haryana with an investment of Rs.7,892 crore. In Tamil Nadu, the power major plans to set up a 1000 MW thermal power project at a cost of Rs.5,400 crore. The project will be set up by NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company Ltd (a JV of NTPC and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board).

In the private sector, Jindal Power invited bids for setting up a coal based power unit of 1200/1320 MW at Tamnar in Chhattisgarh.

In an encouraging development, during the month, India Infrastructure Finance Co. (IIFCL) and Housing Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) signed an MoU with Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to finance power projects of over 1,000 MW.

In the Manufacturing sector, sugar industry saw renewed investment activities in September 2007. In all, four new sugar mills with capacities ranging from 3,500 tccpd to 5,000 tccpd were announced. Of the four, two mills are coming up in Karnataka, and one each in Orissa and Bihar.

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.