Number of projects in January were fewer than December 2008

Number of projects in January were fewer than December 2008 However, planned investment was 30 per cent more In January 2009, ProjectsToday gathered information on 907 new projects entailing a total investment of Rs.39,194 crore. Though compared with December 2008 figures, the January figures indicated around 100 less projects, in terms of total investment planned thereof it indicated an increase of 30 per cent. Announcement of a few large size investment intentions in the Aluminium, Electricity and Offshore drilling sectors led to the healthy increase in investment intentions in the month. Of the total projects announced, 733 projects entailing a total investment of Rs.16,352 crore were by the State and Central government agencies. Private entities accounted for the balance 174 projects worth Rs.22,842 crore. Among the major sectors, Electricity amounted to around 34 per cent and Manufacturing amounted to around 25 per cent of the total investment. During the month, 38 projects were announced in Electricity sector with a total investment of Rs.13,479 crore. Slowdown in the Manufacturing sector observed since October 2008, continued in January 2009 also. As against 88 projects worth Rs.18,989 crore announced in December 2008, only 57 projects worth Rs.9,610 crore were announced in January. In this sector, RSB Metaltech, a subsidiary of the RSB Group, announced a greenfield integrated aluminium complex in Orissa, at an estimated investment of Rs.6,800 crore. The Power sector saw two coal based projects of 1,320 MW each being announced by Chambal Energy and SJK Powergen in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, respectively; along with four gas based power projects including a 800 MW gas based power expansion project by Vemagiri Power Generation at Vemagiri in Andhra Pradesh. Of the 20 hydel based power projects announced, 15 small hydro power plants were announced by the Bihar State Hydro-Electric Power Corporation. One of the major projects in the Hydel sector was NTPC's 460 MW Kolodyne Stage-II hydro electric project in Mizoram, entailing an investment of Rs.3,000 crore. In the Mining sector, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation received its Board approval for redeveloping Mumbai High (North) - Phase-II in Maharashtra, entailing an investment of Rs.7,133 crore. The Construction sector saw around 26 new commercial complexes including shopping malls, 11 new hotels and 22 new hospitals being announced across India. In addition, ProjectsToday collected information on 113 Real Estate projects, which were at different stages of their development. Among them, the biggest project was Confident Group's 100 acre township 'Confident Canopus' at Hoskote in Bangalore, comprising of plots, villas, convention centre and a school. Of the 11 new hotels announced in January 2009, Emaar MGF’s plans to develop hotels under the brand 'Hyatt Place' in JV with US-based Global Hyatt Corporation (74:26) and at an estimated investment of Rs.1,000 crore, was the largest. The proposed hotels will come up in Mysore, Lucknow, Indore, Mangalore, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. Another hotel venture was announced by Zoom Developers to set up five 3-Star hotels in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The Service sector saw 448 infrastructural projects (Roadways, Railways etc.), 65 water supply schemes and 22 hospitals being announced. Employees' State Insurance Corporation's (ESIC) venture for constructing medical college/retrofitting the existing ESIC hospital at Parel and Andheri in Mumbai, was the largest investment proposal in Hospital sector, entailing an estimated investment of Rs.160 crore and Rs.140 crore, respectively. National Building Construction Company invited bids for both the projects.

In addition to this, following two SEZs were announced during the month:
* Kolkata-based, Dhunseri Tea & Industries' IT SEZ at Bantala in Kolkata.
* Karnataka Biotechnology & Information Technology Services' biotechnology SEZ at Phase-III of Electronic city in Bangalore.

Vibrant Gujarat 2009:
On 12 and 13 January 2009, the Gujarat government held a Global Investors Summit - Vibrant Gujarat 2009. According to the press release issued by the state government, during the two days, the state received an overwhelming response from investors, and the state government signed a whopping 8,500 MoUs entailing a total investment of Rs.12.14 lakh crore. These projects if materialised in toto, are expected to create additional employment of more than 25 lakh. During January 2009, the Punjab government also signed MoUs on 12 January with private companies, in the Power Generation sector, to revive nine out of 15 sugar mills, which have been incurring losses.

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