Record Fresh Investment by Private and Public Sector in FY2023

India witnessed a significant surge in projects investment across major sectors in the fiscal year ended on 31 March 2023 (FY2023). As per the latest Survey of Projects Investment in India, fresh investment increased by a whopping 91.97 percent in FY2023 on a Y-o-Y basis. While the private sector maintained its dominance in the project investment landscape, the public sector too increased its investment commitments by 94.76 percent.

While sectors like Roadways, Solar Power, and Real Estate continued to attract increased fresh investments, new industries in Green Hydrogen, Semiconductors & Display Fabs, Electric Vehicles, and Data Centres attracted high-ticket investment intentions.

Fresh investment swelled from Rs 19,27,214.28 crore in FY2022 to Rs 36,99,673.33 crore in FY2023. During the same period, the total number of projects increased from 10,445 in FY2022 to 10,509 in FY2023.

Projex by Ownership

While both the Private and the Public sectors recorded impressive growths in fresh investment in FY2023, the Private sector growth of 90.71 percent in additional fresh investment in FY2023 came on top of the 144.39 percent growth it had registered in FY2022. The private sector's dominance is evident from the fact that it contributed around two-thirds of the total investment in both financial years.

Fresh investment intentions by the Public sector agencies had grown at a slower rate of 13.33 percent in FY2022. Increased investment proposals in FY2023 allowed the Public sector to record an impressive 94.76 percent growth and retain its share in total fresh investment at 31.57 percent, a little higher than its share of 31.11 percent in FY2022. Both the Central and State governments posted healthy growths in their fresh capex intentions.

In FY2023, the Private sector announced 3,804 new projects worth Rs 25,31,800.03 crore and accounted for 68.43 percent of the total fresh investment announced during the Survey period. On the other hand, the public sector units (both Central and State) announced 6,705 new projects worth Rs 11,67,873.30 crore marking a year-on-year growth of 94.76 percent.

Within the Public sector, the Central government units announced 1,696 projects worth Rs 5,62,083.37 crore and the state-owned agencies announced 5,009 projects worth Rs 6,05,789.93 crore during FY2023.

Around 64 percent of the Private sector investment was found in critical sectors like Green Hydrogen and Ammonia, Semiconductors and Fabs, Pharma-APIs, Solar & Hydel power, Ports, Real Estate and Data Centres.

On the other hand, the bulk of Public sector investment was restricted to the Social and Transport infrastructure sectors like Water Supply Schemes, Irrigation, Roadways, Railways and Community Services.

Projex by Sectors

Barring the mining sector, growth in fresh investment was seen across major sectors. The Manufacturing sector replaced the traditional leader, the Infrastructure sector by attracting 53.66 percent of the fresh investment announced in FY2023. Electricity and Irrigation sectors too saw total fresh investment commitments increasing at handsome rates in FY2023.

Manufacturing

The Manufacturing sector has emerged as the dominant sector in terms of investment, with its share in total fresh investment increasing from 41.93 percent in FY2022 to 53.66 percent in FY2023. New projects outlay in the sector more than doubled, from Rs 8,08,159.35 crore in FY2022 to Rs 19,85,343.05 crore in FY2023. On the flip side, the number of new projects declined from 2,759 in FY2022 to 1,912 in FY2023.

The substantial increase in investment commitment seen in this sector can be attributed to the rise in the number of mega projects (Cost Rs 1,000 crore or more). As against 98 mega projects worth Rs 6,00,205.60 crore announced in FY2022, in all, 132 mega projects worth Rs 18,05,540.56 crore were announced in FY2023. Within this sector, sub-sectors like Food processing, Pharmaceuticals, Green Hydrogen & Ammonia, Electronics, and Automobiles sectors saw a healthy surge in fresh investment. On the other hand, sectors like Petrochemicals, Steel and Cement, which had attracted large sums of fresh investment in FY2022, registered declines in FY2023.

The forty-two new Green Hydrogen & Ammonia projects and nine Semi-conductors and Display Fabs projects announced during FY2023 together accounted for 34.27 percent of the total fresh investment announced during the Survey period.

In the Automobile sector, 45 new Electric Vehicle projects were announced. These projects intend to install capacities to produce two-wheelers and four-wheelers including buses at a total investment of around Rs 65,000 crore.

Infrastructure (Social & Transport)

During the Survey period, investment commitments in the Infrastructure sector grew from Rs 8,88,348.91 crore in FY2022 to Rs 11,76,512.34 crore in FY2023. The number of new projects also increased from 7,141 to 7,883. However, the unprecedented surge in investment in the Manufacturing sector pulled down the share of the sector from 46.09 percent in FY2022 to 31.8 percent in FY2023. For the last nine years, the share of this sector in total fresh investment had remained above 45 percent.

Within the infrastructure sector, Roadways, Real Estate, Data Centres and Water Supply sectors accounted for around 70 percent of the total fresh investment announced in the Infrastructure sector and for around 22 percent of the total fresh investment announced in FY2023.

Highways/roadways building activities by the NHAI, and various state agencies gained velocity in FY2023. In all, 1,702 new roadways projects entailing a total investment of Rs 4,27,954.76 crore were announced. A year ago, the sector had attracted 1,611 projects worth Rs 2,51,795.83 crore. NHAI alone announced 212 new highway projects with an investment commitment of Rs 1,69,375 crore. A Rs 22,000 crore, 179.71 km Jalna-Nanded expressway of MSRDC was the largest highway project announced during the Survey period.

Increased capex intentions by the state government agencies saw fresh investment commitments in the critical Water Pipeline and Distribution schemes increasing by 38.31 percent in FY2023 on year-on-year basis. In all, 1,106 new projects worth Rs 1,19,583.34 crore were taken up in this sector. At the state level, the year also saw announcement of increased number of schools, hostels, and medical colleges.

In the Railways sector, though not many high-ticket railway line projects were seen, 335 railway station modernization projects were announced. In most of these projects, the costs have not been firmed up. We estimate a total sum of around Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on these projects.

In the Construction industry, barring the Real Estate sector, other sectors like Commercial Complexes and Industrial Parks did not saw much appreciation in fresh investment vis-à-vis a year ago situation. In the Real Estate sector, 1,469 new projects worth Rs 2,12,961.9 crore were announced in FY2023 as against 1,540 projects worth Rs 1,62,235 crore indicating a growth of 31.27 percent on a Y-o-Y basis. Of the 1,469 new projects, 30 were large-size residential complexes, with an aggregate investment of Rs 55,048 crore.

In FY2022, a number of software service providers (including foreign entities) announced their intentions to set up large-size Data Centres in India. The trend continued in FY2023 too. During the Survey period around 45 new Data Centres with an aggregate investment outlay of Rs 59,618 crore were announced. Most of these centres will be housed in Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Odisha, and West Bengal.

Electricity

The Electricity sector saw its share in the investment pie growing from 7.75 percent to 11.1 percent following the 174.9 percent growth recorded in fresh investment intentions. Fresh investment grew from Rs 1,49,393.57 crore in FY2022 to Rs 4,10,678.25 crore in FY2023. While the bulk of the investment in this sector has come in the form of new Solar Power projects in recent years, FY2023 witnessed the revival of interest of promoters in setting up Hydel Power projects. As a result, the fiscal saw announcement of 79 new Hydel power projects worth Rs 1,75,296.71 crore as against 18 projects worth Rs 52,975.33 crore announced in FY2022. Around 33 of the new hydel projects are by Indian private companies.

Solar Power continued attracting new investors and the Survey period saw investment commitment of Rs 1,74,373 crore in the form of 152 projects. Interestingly, the year also saw announcement of 10 Solar-cum-Wind hybrid projects with a combined generation capacity of 10,265 MW.

Irrigation

The Irrigation sector, where State government investment dominates, has seen its share rise from 0.69 percent to 1.67 percent, and fresh investment increasing from Rs 13,222.53 crore in FY2022 to Rs 61,887.55 crore in FY2023. The number of projects too increased from 144 to 252. Further, of the 15 mega projects announced in this sector, 12 projects worth Rs 29,228.15 crore were in Madhya Pradesh. Narmada Valley Development Authority of Madhya Pradesh announced 10 new multi-purpose micro irrigation projects entailing a total outlay of Rs 18,512 crore and the Water Resources Department of the state announced 19 new projects worth Rs 16,145 crore.

Mining

The Mining sector, where investment increased by an impressive rate in FY2022, recorded a marginal decline in projects investment in FY2023. Investment in the form of new projects declined by 4.17 percent, from Rs 68,089.92 crore to Rs 65,252.14 crore. During FY2023, the sector saw announcement of 83 new Coal mining projects worth Rs 22,500 crore and 22 Iron ore mining projects worth Rs 18,245 crore.

Projex by State

During FY2023 a number of major states held Global Investors' meet to attract fresh investment intentions. Scores of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed during these melas. One of the states which benefitted the most from the investors’ mela was Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh, which was missing from the list of Top 10 states in terms of fresh investment in FY2022, not only managed to enter the league but also topped the table by attracting 306 projects worth Rs. 7,65,030 crore in FY2023. Of these, 57 were mega projects with a total investment of Rs 7,28,667.82 crore. This included seven Green Hydrogen projects and 18 Hydel-based power projects.

Gujarat, the topper in FY2022, had to settle for the second spot with 1,008 new projects worth Rs 4,44,420 crore. The state bagged three of the mega Superconductors fabrication projects announced in the country.

Karnataka, another southern state, pipped Maharashtra, last year’s runner-up, to occupy the third position. The state got 992 new projects worth Rs. 4,32,703.72 crore in FY2023. Apart from the seven Green Hydrogen & Ammonia projects worth Rs 2,09,713 crore, the state also managed to get a Rs 22,900 crore Semiconductor Fabrication unit and the much-discussed Rs. 8,000 crore electronics project of Foxconn Technology.

Maharashtra remained the top state in terms of total number of new projects. During FY2023, the state attracted 1,639 new projects worth Rs. 3,71,194.80 crore.

Other states, which made it to the top ten list, were Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.

While the top 10 states cornered 90 percent of the total fresh investment announced in the country during FY2023, the top three together accounted for 44.3 percent of the total fresh investment.

Further, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha were the most favourite investment destinations of the Private sector in that order.

Projex Outlook for FY2024

The willingness of the Private sector to take up super-mega size projects in critical sectors identified by the government is a welcome sign and is an indication of the conviction of the private promoters in the India growth story.

Further, the return of the state government agencies into the capex arena after two years of lull also augurs well for project investment in the country. India still lacks social and transport infrastructure at the state levels. Hence, unless the state governments spend more on these sectors, attracting private investment will be a challenge to them.

In recent years, the Central government, through its close project monitoring mechanism, has ensured the timely completion of its mega infrastructure projects in the Roadways, Railways and Airport sectors. Now, it should extend its monitoring systems to gauge the progress of mega private projects announced in recent years, especially in the game-changing sectors like Green Hydrogen, Semiconductors fabs, Pharma-APIs, Ethanol, Electric Vehicles, etc. Construction is another sector, which requires policy support from the government.

In India, mega projects are delayed due to several issues including the availability of land and environmental clearances in time. A quicker grounding of mega projects would instil confidence in the private promoters to commit more fresh investment.

Projects Today expects the buoyancy in the announcement of fresh investment to continue in FY2024 too unless domestic inflation increases further and international issues like crude oil prices, financial uncertainties, and geopolitical issues puncture the animal spirit of the Indian investors.

About Projects Today

Projects Today is India's largest online databank on new and ongoing projects in India. The website, launched on 8 September 2000, aims to provide the required foresight to its clients based on sectoral insights its research team possesses. The project-related information provides an invaluable marketing resource to assist the business development efforts of the organisations that focus on the new projects market. It is widely used by the project fraternity, primarily, as a business opportunity identifier.

Projects Today conducts Survey of Project Investment, at the end of every financial quarter to gauge the trends in projects investment in India by sectors, state, ownership, etc.

Disclaimer : The opinions expressed within this interview are the personal opinions of the interviewee. The facts and opinions appearing in the answers do not reflect the views of Indiastat or the interviewer. Indiastat does not hold any responsibility or liability for the same.