Reliance, Essel announce major investment plans

A Rs. 21,300 crore solar cells & modules manufacturing project proposal by Essel Infraprojects lifted the overall fresh investment figures of November 2016. The company intends to set up the project in a joint venture with Golden Concord Holdings in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) has already approved the project.

In November 2016, 741 new projects worth Rs. 99,751 crore were announced. Of these, 465 projects worth Rs. 49,420 crore were greenfield projects; 253 were plant modernisation projects; and 23 were capacity expansion projects. Further of the 741 projects, the promoters of 349 projects have not firmed up the costs of their projects. Most of these projects were in the Real Estate and Roadways sector.

The Manufacturing sector accounted for around 55 per cent of the fresh investment announced in November 2016. Apart from the Essel solar cells & modules project, the sector saw announcements of six more mega projects. Reliance Industries plans debottlenecking and expansion of petrochemical plant at Vagra taluka in Bharuch district of Gujarat with an investment of Rs. 13,250 crore.

In the Cement sector, Emami plans to set up two cement units. The company plans to set up a six million tpa cement unit in Rajasthan with an investment of Rs. 3,500 crore. The company also plans to set up a Rs 1,950 crore cement unit with a capacity of 4.25 million tpa at Tangeda village, Dachepalli taluka in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. The project, to be spread over 254.34 ha of land, also comprises of 3.2 million tpa clinker, 30 MW coal based captive power plant and 15 MW waste heat recovery power unit.

JK Lakshmi Cement plans to expand clinker capacity from 5.35 million tpa to 8 million tpa at Jaykaypuram village, Pindwara taluka in Sirohi district of Rajasthan with an investment of Rs. 1,140 crore. The project also include expansion of waste heat recovery based power unit from 15 MW to 50 MW.

Patanjali Ayurved plans to develop a food park at Balipara in Sonitpur district of Assam with an investment of Rs. 1,300 crore. The facility will manufacture around 12 lakh tonne of consumer products such as cosmetics, nutritional foods and kitchen essentials, etc.

ITC plans to expand its paper and paper boards capacity from 7.4 lakh tpa to 12.4 lakh tpa at Sarapaka village, near Bhadrachalam in Khammam district of Telangana at an investment of Rs. 5,350 crore. The project plans include expansion of bleached chemical hard wood pulp unit from 3.5 lakh tpa to 8.5 lakh tpa and co-generation captive power plant from 114.5 MW to 304.5 MW.

Super Smelters plans to expand steel capacity at Ikra village, Mondalpur, Jamuria taluka in Bardhaman district of West Bengal with an investment of Rs. 3,600 crore.

The Services & Utilities (Infrastructure) sector saw 606 new announcements worth Rs. 38,412 crore and accounted for 38.5 per cent of the total fresh investment announced in November 2016. REC Transmission Projects envisages development of Rs. 1,050 crore new Western Region (WR)-North Region (NR) 765 kV inter-regional corridor and Rs. 1,321 crore Eastern Region Strengthening Scheme – XXI on BOOM basis.

In Roadways sector, National Highways Authority of India announced six new mega projects:

Rs. 2,485 crore four-laning of end of Pandoh bypass to Takoli section on NH-21 from 221.31 km to 242.00 km in Himachal Pradesh on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under NHDP Phase-IVB (Package-II).

Rs. 1,522 crore Delhi-Meerut Expressway from Dasna to Meerut 27.74 km of NH-24 to 51.98 km of NH- 58 (Design Chainage 28.00 to 59.98) (Package-IV) in Uttar Pradesh on EPC basis.

Rs. 1,463 crore four-laning with paved shoulder of Porbandar-Dwarka section on NH-8E (Ext.) from 356.76 km (Design Chainage 379.10 km) to 473.00 km (Design Chainage 496.84 km) in Gujarat on PPP basis through Hybrid (Annuity) mode.

Rs. 1,303 crore six-laning of Gorhar to Barwa Adda section of NH-2 from 320.81 km to 400.13 km (Package-III) in Jharkhand on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under NHDP Phase-V.

Rs. 1,255 crore four-laning of Jhansi-Khajuraho section (Package-I) from 0.00 km to 76.30 km (existing 108.30 km of NH-25 Kanpur-Jhansi Section to 82.10 km) of NH-75/76 in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on Hybrid Annuity mode (HAM) under NHDP Phase-III.

Maharashtra Industrial Devp. Corpn. (MIDC) envisages development of Rs. 1,000 crore additional Butibori industrial area at Dhawalpeth, Mangali, Dudha, Bhamahni, Chicholi, Chimnazar, Navegaon and Tarsi villages, Hingna taluka in Nagpur district of Maharashtra. The project will spread over 1,391.85 ha of land.

In the Construction sector, Konkan Housing & Area Devp. Board plans to construct a Rs. 1,272 crore residential complex at Survey No.86, 95 and 133 in Thane district of Maharashtra on turnkey basis. The project comprises towers of ground/stilt+7 floors with 13,608 economically weaker section (EWS) and 2,940 low income group (LIG) tenements including various modern amenities.

A Rs. 9,980 crore re-development of government colony into residential / commercial complex at Sarojini Nagar in New Delhi, promoted by Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development was the major project announced in November 2016.

Twenty-eight new projects and thirty-four power distribution lines helped the Electricity sector in attracting fresh projex of Rs.5,214 crore. K P Energy plans to set up a 500 MW solar based power unit at Patoda in Bid district of Maharashtra. Solar Energy Corpn. of India envisages setting up 500 MWp and 250 MWp solar photovoltaic based power units at Bhadla Phase-III Solar Park and Bhadla Phase-IV Solar Park in Bikaner district of Rajasthan under NSM Phase-II, Batch-IV respectively.

Among the states, Andhra Pradesh topped the investment chart with 50 projects worth Rs. 26,164 crore and accounted for 26 per cent of the total fresh investment emanated in November 2016 and Maharashtra attracted the highest number of the new projects – 70 projects worth Rs. 7,503 crore.