Ind investments fall during March

New Delhi: March saw a dip with monthly actual industrial investment of Rs33,491 crore compared to Rs39,669 crore in March 2023. However, in terms of employment generation, March this year was better as 52,345 jobs were created, as compared to 40,800 in the month a year ago, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

But actual investment in March was higher than that in February, Rs27,539, which created 43,329 jobs. In the January-March period, actual industrial investment was of Rs85,456 crore, which was more than Rs80,444 crore in the first three months of the last calendar year.

Actual industrial investment in 2022 and 2023 was Rs2,63,940 crore and Rs2,93,003 crore, respectively.

Intended investment in March, called Part-A filing of industrial entrepreneur memorandums (IEMs), also fell to Rs40,775 from Rs1,69,756 crore in March 2023. Even on a month-to-month basis, the decline was steep, as in IEMs worth Rs1,46,025 crore were filed. But interestingly, officials expect job creation in March to be 58,638, as against 28,031 in March 2023.

The top three States getting actual industrial investment in March were Maharashtra (Rs8,458 cr), Gujarat (Rs3,485 cr), and Madhya Pradesh (Rs3,327 cr). Jobs created were 11,278, 9,152, and 4,486, respectively.

Chemicals (other than fertilizers) got investment worth Rs12,137 crore, the food processing industry Rs1,611 crore, and textiles Rs1,830 crore.

Maharashtra also topped in attracting intended investment, Rs8,319 crore, followed by Gujarat (Rs3,784 crore), and Andhra Pradesh (Rs3,448 crore).

The sectors that got maximum IEMs are electrical equipment (Rs14,000 crore), cement & gypsum products (Rs4,260 crore), and miscellaneous mechanical & engineering industries (Rs492 crore). Intended industrial investment in the first three months of this calendar year was Rs2,71,361 crore, up from Rs2,08,770 crore in January-March 2023. For 2022 and 2023, it was Rs4,24,101 crore and Rs5,10,852, respectively.