Private sector investment on a recovery path, shows RBI study

The private sector is scaling down on their new capacity expansion plans, but they have stepped up borrowing for the planned phases, a study by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has showed. A total capex of Rs 1.49 trillion was estimated to have been incurred by the private corporate sector in 2017-18, of which Rs 80,200 crore was from fresh sanctions during the year.  “The year marked the seventh successive annual contraction in the private corporate sector’s capex plans. However, the envisaged capex from the pipeline projects already under­taken showed an improvement over the previous year’s pipeline,” the RBI study showed. The phasing profile of capex of projects sanctioned by banks indicate that around 38% (Rs 65,000 crore) of the proposed expend­iture will be spent in 2017-18, 24% (Rs 41,900 crore) in 2018- 19 and 21% (Rs 36,800 crore) in the year beyond. Around 17% of the total cost of projects sanctioned in 2017-18 was spent during 2014-15 to 2016-17, the RBI said.  On the basis of the pipeline projects sanctioned in the preceding years, the planned capex could amount to Rs 79,200 crore in 2018-19, marking an improvement over the previous year (Rs 68,500 crore). In the first half of 2018-19, 190 projects with a cost of Rs 91,400 crore were sanctioned by banks and financial institutions.