Assocham says Maharashtra is No.1

The manufacturing slowdown may be a major reason to worry for India Incorporated, but it has not forced them to put on hold their medium-to long-term expansion plans. In fact, the investment commitments made by the companies in the past six months has simply grown immensely.
This is the key finding of a survey conducted by industry body The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) which has placed Maharashtra at the top rank of the list of states that will attract maximum investment in the coming years. Maharashtra has topped the chart with investment commitments worth Rs 1,20,065 crore made in the past six months mostly in the sectors such as power, real estate, automobiles, and shipping.
The significant investment announcements made in recent the months include: Tata Power’s Rs 25,000 crore plan to raise generation capacity from 2,368 Mw to 12,861 Mw in the next five years as well as Reliance Industries’ announcement to set up semi-conductors and other micro-technology units in the next ten years in the state at a projected investment of Rs 21,666 crore.
According to the report (which is based on tracking investment announcements made for 24 states in the first six months of this calendar year), the capacity expansion plans announced by Indian corporates surged to Rs 10,50,950 crore in the first six months.
This is a significant jump over the figure of Rs 5,67,851 crore of brownfield and greenfield plans announced between August-December 2007.
The report put Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Rajasthan as most preferred destinations for the private players for investments opportunities in the near future.
Andhra Pradesh, which has been ranked at second slot in the chart, has seen investment announcements worth Rs 1,06,242 crore made by major industrial groups such as Reliance Industries, Hinduja Group, Videocon Industries and GAIL in the recent months.
The timeline for implementation of the new projects in the state is two-five years.
Orissa, which has been adjuged as the third most preferred destination, has seen capital expenditure announcements of Rs 88,902 crore between January- June this year with companies like Vedanta Resources and National Aluminum Cooperation (NALCO) being in the forefront of making fresh commitments.