Govt’s capex appetite in Q4 fails to lift FY25 investment performance
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s investment report card received a significant boost from high-cost government projects in the March-ended quarter, providing a potential last-minute push after a slow year, even as private sector appetite remained subdued. However, despite the upbeat performance in the final quarter, the momentum was not enough to shift the overall sentiment for the full year.
During the quarter, new projects worth ₹18.7 trillion were announced nationwide, accounting for half of the total new projects announced for the entire year, according to provisional data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Read this | Reform agenda: What India must do to get private sector investment going Investment typically picks up in the final quarter of the fiscal year, often resulting in a sharp increase compared to the previous quarter, though not always on a year-on-year basis. The March quarter’s spike was largely driven by a 117% year-on-year rise in new government projects.
In contrast, the private sector saw a 89% sequential increase but only a modest 3.3% rise from the same period last year. Of the five largest new project announcements, four were made by central and state governments. A major renewable energy project in Madhya Pradesh by state-owned NTPC Ltd alone accounted for 6% of the quarter’s total new project costs, with the top five accounting for 21%.
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