New investments fell to a 15-year low in the midst of slowdown, says report

• A CARE Ratings report says that new investments in India fell to a 15-year low in the first half of FY20.
• The total new investment in H1 FY20 stood at ₹1.9 lakh crore.
• Investments in manufacturing, construction, real estate and irrigation have increased but those in mining, electricity have taken a hit.

The Indian economy is in a dismal state and now a CARE ratings report shows that new investments in India fell to a 15-year low in the first half of FY20.

The total new investment in H1 FY20 stood at ₹1.9 lakh crore. During the same period in the previous year, as much as ₹6.1 lakh crore were pumped into the economy.

According to the report, investments in manufacturing, construction, real estate and irrigation have increased but those into mining and electricity have taken a hit.

“The investment rate has declined consistently over the years and remained range bound between 28%-29% of GDP in the past 4 years. This has been a detrimental factor for the overall economic growth of the country,” said the report.

Odisha had the highest share of new investments, and has overtaken Maharashtra.

Investments are also slowing down because of the rising number of stalled projects. In FY19, 53% of government owned projects were stalled. However, in FY20, half of the stalled projects are privately owned. Most of the stalled projects were seen in the services sector, followed by electricity and manufacturing.

The report stated that the reason for stalled projects has been lack of non- environmental clearances and lack of funds.