Monday, February 15, 2010

Orissa second to Gujarat in India Inc’s investment plans in 2009

Economic Times, Feb
BHUBANESWAR: Orissa continues to dominate as a leading player in the India Inc's investment plans in 2009 despite economic slowdown by mopping up a whopping domestic investments worth Rs 2,00,846 crore in the year.

Only Gujarat, with Rs. 2,45,352 crore worth of investment plans, registered the highest share in domestic investment plans during January to December, 2009, according to according to the analysis of Assocham Investment Meter (AIM) Study on corporate investments.

Andhra Pradesh occupied third position with an investment plan pegged at Rs 1,29,157 crore.


Total investment plans of India Inc increased significantly from Rs 13,80,099 crore in 2008 to Rs 15,94,203 crore in 2009; out of which Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh carved out a majority share of 15.4%, 12.6& and 8.1% respectively.

"The robustness in corporate investment activity on the Indian soil shows how competently the economy has managed to weather the storm of unprecedented global financial crisis" said Assocham secretary general, DS Rawat. The intensity of corporate investment activity during the period of economic downturn has proved the relative resilience of Indian economy.

Mr Rawat however pointed out that the implementation of these investment projects has been hampered by a slew of hurdles. These include, land acquisition problems, bureaucratic inertia, ongoing economic slowdown and depressed export market conditions. "The government needs to address these issues on priority basis in order to realise the fruits of these investments", he said.

Gujurat's investor friendly policies which led to a smooth relocation of the Tata Nano project has helped it attract majority of investment plans in the real estate, power and infrastructure sectors while Orissa attracted massive investments largely due to the availability of rich mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along with cheap manpower. Steel and power were among the sectors which attracted maximum investments in the state.


Successful commencement of gas production from the D6 block of KG basin helped Andhra Pradesh rank third in attracting investment. The state recorded investment plans to the tune of Rs 1,29,157 crore. Energy and the real estate were among the major sectors that attracted maximum investments.

The domestic investment announcements of India Inc registered a growth of 16 per cent during the calendar year 2009 over 2008. The total investment plans of India Inc increased significantly from Rs 13,80,099 crore in 2008 to Rs 15,94,203 crore in 2009.

The Study shows that the power sector was the major investment attracting sector for 2009. The sector attracted investment plans worth Rs 4,14,327 crore with a share of 26 per cent in the overall investment plans across the country. Real estate sector witnessed proposed investment plans worth Rs 2,57,314 crore whereas energy sector attracted proposed investments to the tune of Rs 1,98,565 crore.

Other sectors which recorded high flowing corporate investments during the last year were metals & mining (Rs 1,59,534 crore), infrastructure (Rs 74,210 crore), hospitality (Rs 43,746 crore), auto/auto components (Rs 38,150 crore) and telecom (Rs 34,461 crore).

Karnataka and Maharashtra stood at fourth and fifth position by attracting investment plans worth Rs 1,06,092 crore and Rs 91,824 crore respectively during 2009. Karnataka has cashed in its investor friendly image by attracting a proposal of setting up a six million-ton integrated steel plant by ArcelorMittal whereas benefited by its financial infrastructure; Maharashtra has also been among the leading investment destinations in the country.

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