In February 2008, 66 new power projects were announced across India. In all, these projects signaled fresh investments worth Rs.29,094 crore. Other than the Power sector, Food & Agro, Chemicals, Iron & Steel, Roadways, Real Estate and Commercial complexes sectors saw sizeable number of new projects being announced.

ProjectsToday monitored 750 new projects entailing a total investment of Rs.70,940 crore, in February 2008.As mentioned above, the bulk of fresh investments was accounted by the 66 new power projects.

Of the 66 new power projects, 17 were thermal, 13 were hydel and the balance comprised of wind, solar and bagasse based projects. In all, these projects intend to install fresh generation capacities to the tune of around 16,000 MW.

Among the new power projects, the largest one was National Hydroelectric Power Corporation's 3,000 MW (12x250 MW) hydro electric power unit across the Dibang River in Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. The investment in this was marked at Rs.16,425 crore.

The month also saw announcements of large power projects by private entities. Jaiprakash Power Ventures announced four hydel projects in the North East region. It has proposed two hydel power plants in Arunachal Pradesh - its 2,025 MW Lower Siang unit in Lower Subansiri and the 500 MW Hirong unit in East Kameng.

Two projects will come up in Meghalaya -the 450 MW Kynshi unit in West Kashi Hills and the 270 MW Umngot unit in East Khasi Hills.

Essar Power proposes to set up a 1,200 MW coal based power unit at Vadinar in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Also, Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction intends to set up a 1,980 MW coal based power unit at Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The power major, NTPC has proposed a 1,320 (2x660) MW coal based power unit at Meja in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

The Manufacturing sector attracted 275 new projects worth Rs.26,324 crore in February 2008. Within this sector, Steel, Sugar, Cement and Machinery sectors attracted large investments. The largest investment proposal announced in the overall Manufacturing sector was by Adhunik Corporation for a 1.1 mln tpa integrated steel plant at Raghunathpur in West Bengal. Investment in this project will be Rs.7,200 crore. To support the steel mill, a 1000 MW captive power plant will also be set up.

Among the other sub-sectors, the Cement industry which is witnessing an upswing in projects investments, saw 19 additional projects being announced in February 2008. These projects have a combined capacity to manufacture around 30 mln tpa of cement. Of the 19 projects, the most ambitious ones were by JSW Cement and Bhushan Steel. Each of the private companies plan to set up 5 mln tpa cement units in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, respectively.

The Sugar industry saw the announcement of 13 new sugar mills having a combined cane crushing capacity of 18,250 tccpd. Maharashtra was the largest beneficiary of this new announcement as eight of the 13 new sugar mills will be housed in the state. However, the largest investment proposals were announced by Shakumbari Sugar & Allied Industries for projects in Uttar Pradesh. Here the company has proposed to expand its sugar mill capacity from 3,000 tccpd to 7,500 tccpd in Saharanpur, at an investment of Rs.1,500 crore. Alongside, it will also expand its distillery capacity from 40 klpd to 300 klpd and set up a 15 MW co-generation power unit.

In the Construction sector, around 32 new commercial complexes and shopping malls were announced across India. In addition, ProjectsToday collected information on 94 Real Estate projects, which are at different stages of their development. Among the large scale Real Estate projects announced in February 2008, the largest was Aliens Developers' proposed integrated township 'Aliens Space Station - I' being developed over 19.66 acres of land at Gachibowli, in Hyderabad. The township comprises of 12 towers of G+29 floors with 2,025 apartments, duplex villas, pent-houses, office space, multiplex and a shopping mall.

Of the total projects announced during February 2008, 242 projects entailing a total investment of Rs.30,821 crore were by the state and Central government agencies. Private entities accounted for the balance 508 projects worth Rs.40,119 crore.