Industrial investments nosedived during July

New Delhi: July 2023 witnessed a decline in both proposed and actual industrial investment. As many as 136 industrial entrepreneur memorandums (IEMs) were filed with a total proposed investment of Rs 52,833 crore in July 2023, almost 56 per cent down from Rs 82,384 crore in July 2022, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

These were Part A IEM filings, indicating investment intentions; Part B IEM filings are actual investments. In July 2023, Part B IEM filings were worth Rs 8,762 crore, much lower than Rs 30,796 crore in July 2022.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu were the leading States in terms of proposed investment of Rs 29,157 crore, Rs 8,981 crore, and Rs 3,824 crore, respectively, during July 2023. In terms of investment intentions, electrical equipment, metallurgical industries, and the fermentation industry topped the list with proposed investments of Rs 15,353 crore, Rs 6,866 crore, and Rs 6,026 crore, respectively.

The electrical equipment industry has been doing very well for some time in terms of investment intentions. In 2021, there were 158 Part A filings of IEMs with all proposals worth Rs 65,979 crore, which was 8.55 per cent of the total investment intentions. In 2022, there were 91 filings worth Rs 42,968 crore, which were 10.13 per cent of total investment intentions. In the first seven months of the last calendar year, there were 68 Part A filings with Rs 65,880 crore, making 20.58 per cent of the total.

This industry also good by way of attracting actual investment, of Rs 68,682, in 2022, which was more than a quarter of the total actual industrial investments. In the first seven months of 2023, however, actual investments came down to Rs 15199 crore, which was less than a tenth of the total actual industrial investments in the country. In the January-July 2023 period, the sector classified as ‘chemicals other than fertilizers’ received more than a third of the total actual investment.