The 83rd Survey of Projects Investment in India indicated a fall of 18 percent in fresh investment announcements in the latest quarter ended 30 June 2021 on quarter-on-quarter basis. The quarter (April-June 2021 or Q1/FY22) saw announcement of 2,199 new projects intending to bring in fresh investment of Rs 3,34,572.52 crore. The preceding quarter (Q4/FY21) had seen announcement of 2,716 new projects worth Rs 4,08,237.15 crore.

Although the pace of announcement of fresh investment projex (projects expenditure) slowed down due to the COVID 2.0 induced partial lockdown, the fall was not as steep as was observed in the first quarter of the last fiscal, when COVID 1.0 was at the peak.

As of June 2021, there were 78,969 projects entailing a total investment of Rs 1,66,95,329 crore. The project implementation ratio (Investment Under Execution/Total Investment*100) increased from 37.0 percent in June 2020 to 38.51 percent as of June 2021.

Recognising the fact that capacity building by the government sector declined sharply in the first quarter of FY22, the Union Finance Ministry egged government agencies to front load their capital expenditure plans. Projects Today completely concur with the Finance Ministry’s move and urge the Centre to ensure timely execution of the 8,068 projects worth Rs 153.37 lakh crore listed in NIP. This will not only revive the economy, but will also instill confidence in private companies to expedite their capex plans too.

As against 89 mega projects (project cost of Rs 1,000 crore or more) aggregating Rs 2,40,541.66 crore announced in the preceding quarter, Q1/FY22 saw announcement of only 42 mega projects worth Rs 1,98,823.38 crore. This included the super mega projects announced by Reliance Industries (Rs 60,000 crore) and Adani Enterprises (Rs 29,000 crore). In the previous quarter, only one such mega project was announced by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India to set up an integrated steel project in Odisha at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore.

Fresh investment announcements by the government sector had declined by 11.29 percent in Q3/FY21. In the subsequent quarter, it increased by 21.53 percent only to decline once again by 41.65 percent in the quarter ended June 2021. In Q1/FY22, the government sector saw announcement of 1,292 new projects worth Rs 97,376.16 crore.

In contrast, the decline in the private sector was minimal at 1.73 percent in Q1/FY22 on Q-o-Q basis. The country saw 907 new private projects with fresh investment of Rs 2,37,196.36 crore. Around 71.87 percent of the private fresh investment was found in the Manufacturing sector. In all, 544 new projects entailing a total investment of Rs 1,70,473.46 crore were announced in the quarter. The next highest concentration was seen in the Infrastructure sector with 327 new projects worth Rs 51,463.87 crore.

Among the major sectors, Infrastructure saw sharp declines in both number of new projects as well as fresh investment in the first quarter. As against 1,961 new projects worth Rs 1,97,884.74 crore announced in Q3/FY21, 464 less projects i.e. 1,497 new projects worth Rs 1,20,806.91 crore were announced in Q1/FY22.

Mostly aided by the 14 mega private projects with a total investment commitment of Rs 1,34,395 crore, the Manufacturing sector posted a healthy growth of 42.87 percent on Q-o-Q basis and accounted for 51.1 percent of the total fresh investment emanated in the first quarter of FY22. In all, 565 new projects worth Rs 1,70,954.18 crore were announced in this sector. The preceding quarter had seen announcement of 545 new projects worth Rs 1,19,654.87 crore.

To avail the benefits of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme of the Central government, the Drugs & Pharmaceutical sector had seen a number of new pharma projects being announced in the last couple of quarters. The first quarter of FY22 was no exception. In all, 217 new drugs and pharma projects with a total investment of Rs 8,541 crore were announced between April and June 2021. This was on top of 131 new projects worth Rs 6,540 crore announced in the preceding quarter.

The fall in government commitment towards fresh capex in the first quarter of FY22 saw the aggregate fresh investment in the Infrastructure sector dropping by 38.95 percent in the latest quarter ending June 2021. In all, 1,497 new projects worth Rs 1,20,806.91 crore were announced in this quarter as against 1,961 projects entailing a total investment of Rs 1,97,884.74 crore announced in the preceding quarter.

Aided by the super mega projects of Reliance Industries and Adani Enterprises, Gujarat topped the projects investment table with a total fresh investment of Rs 1,08,494.55 crore spread across 265 projects. The Rs 89,200 crore of fresh investment commitment of the two corporate groups saw the state cornering nearly one-third of the fresh investment announced in the country in the first quarter of FY22.

The second-ranked Maharashtra was one of the worst affected by the second wave of COVID-19, which rampaged the country in the first quarter of FY22. Notwithstanding the pandemic and the partial lockdown, the state managed to attract 302 new projects with investment commitments of Rs 43,559 crore and held on to its second position, which it had earned in the preceding quarter.