In November 2007, ProjectsToday monitored 426 new projects entailing an investment of Rs.28,013 crore. Announcement of a mega refinery expansion by Essar Oil and signing of a spate of cement MoUs, were the notable developments in the projects investment arena during November 2007.

Essar Oil, a part of the Essar group, announced its intention to expand the capacity of its recently commissioned 10.5 mln tpa refinery to 34 mln tpa. The 10.5 mln tpa refinery was set up at Vadinar in Gujarat after a considerable delay. Also, for the next three years, Essar Oil has chalked out an ambitious investment plan worth Rs.24,000 crore.

Reliance Petroleum is also expanding its refinery capacity at Jamnagar, from the existing 30 mln tpa to around 60 mln tpa. On completion of both Essar and Reliance refineries, Jamnagar will be the 'Refining Hub of the World' with a combined capacity of around 94 mln tpa.

The Cement sector saw 12 new projects having a combined capacity of 15 mln tpa being announced during November 2007. Of the 12, the most ambitious proposal was by India Cement, who has slated to set up cement plants in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, with an annual capacity of 2 mln tpa, each.

Jaiprakash Associates, the construction major, plans to set up two cement plants in Solan, Himachal Pradesh - one 1.3 mln tpa plant at Bhageri and another 1.59 mln tpa plant at Bagga. Shree Cement also announced two cement units; a 3 mln tpa unit in Sikar, Rajasthan and another unit in Gulbarga district of Karnataka.

MSP Steel and Power, the flagship company of the MSP Group, singed a MoU with the Madhya Pradesh government to set up a 2 mln tpa cement unit in the state.

The Sugar sector saw the announcement of three new sugar mills with capacities ranging between 2,500 tccpd to 5,000 tccpd. Of these, Aditya Sugar's proposed project to set up 5,000 tccpd plant at Bopparam in Andhra Pradesh was the largest.

The month of November saw the signing of three power MoUs. Suryachakra Power Corporation entered into a MoU with China Guodian Corporation to develop a 1,200 MW coal-based power project. Iceland's Glitnir Bank signed a MoU with LNJ Bhilwara Group to set up geothermal power plants in India and Nepal. Further, on 30 November 2007, Moser Baer Photo Voltaic signed a MoU with Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation to set up a solar power project having an estimated generation capacity of 1 - 5 MW.

Of the 38 new power projects announced in November, three were of large size. These include Vandana Global's 540 MW (2x270 MW) coal-based power unit at Korba in Chhattisgarh, Dhariwal Infrastructure's 540 MW (4x135 MW) coal-based power unit at Tadali in Chandrapur, Maharashtra and BEC Power's 505 MW coalbased power unit at Dabhra in Chhattisgarh.

In the Construction sector, around 34 new commercial complexes and shopping malls were announced across India. In addition, ProjectsToday collected information on 146 Real Estate projects, which were at different stages of their development. The major project announced in the Real Estate sector was Parsvnath Developers' residential township 'Prideasia', which is being set up in JV with Chandigarh Housing Board. The township is being developed over 123 acres of land at Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park in Chandigarh. It comprises of residential buildings with G+3 configuration, and 1,314 flats and villas.