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Proposals for investment in the Indian economy witnessed a slowdown during the three months ended September 2012, the sixth consecutive quarter of decline.
A total of 293 new investment proposals worth Rs 57,400 lakh crore were made during the quarter, compared to 735 projects worth Rs 2,37,500 crore in June 2012 quarter and 931 projects worth Rs 2,32,800 crore in quarter ended September 2011.
This was the lowest level of fresh investment commitments since September 2004, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). But the manufacturing sector saw fresh investment commitments rising by 19 per cent to Rs 27,600 crore vis-à-vis the year ago period, though this was significantly lower than the proposals worth Rs 77,300 crore in March 2012 and Rs 79,900 crore in December 2011.
Sectors like mining and electricity, on the other hand, witnessed a drop in fresh investments during the quarter under review.
As of the September quarter, the total quantum of investment made across 18,348 projects in the country stood at Rs 142 lakh crore, a five per cent increase from Rs 135 lakh crore across 18,870 projects in September 2011.
But in a worrying sign, implementation of 612 projects worth 7.75 lakh crore was stalled during the September 2012 quarter, compared to 474 projects worth Rs 4.74 lakh crore in September 2011.
What is more, commissioning of new projects during the September quarter also witnessed a decline. Projects worth Rs 42,600 crore were commissioned during September 2012, 47 per cent lower than the value of projects commissioned a year ago. This was the poorest achievement with respect to commissioning of projects since the September 2007 quarter.
But the good news is that fewer fresh investment proposals were stalled on the drawing board during the quarter ended September 2012 with respect to year-ago levels.
During the quarter under review, only 104 fresh commitments worth Rs 37,200 crore were held up, compared to 137 projects worth Rs 1.98 lakh crore crore in September 2011.
CMIE noted that the quarterly investment estimates are likely to undergo significant changes over time, as information on projects usually comes out with a lag of several weeks.
> arvind.jayaram@thehindu.co.in
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