Today, India is a market which offers high prospects for growth and earning potential in practically all areas of business. The rising consumer demand has provided a further growth avenue for In dian firms. According to management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, the Indian consumer base is likely to quadruple to US$ 1.77 trillion by 2025, spurred by the ten fold increase in middle-class population and three-fold rise in household income.

Consequently, both the public and private sector are making investments to start new enterprises and ramp up existing firms to reap economies of scale. This increase in investments is across varied industrial sectors like retail, real estate, steel, infrastructure, automobile and telecommunication among others.

According to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the Indian power sector received investments worth US$ 44.76 billion in the first half of 2008, accounting for almost 30.9 per cent of the overall investments in the corporate sector.

After the power sector, the other sectors that attracted huge investments were realty, steel, retail and telecom, the report revealed, stating, "These sectors together saw capex (capital expenditure) plans worth US$ 145.38 billion during the period."

The realty sector was second, with US$ 34.68 billion for the next two to five years. It was followed by the steel sector with investment worth US$ 24.80 billion from companies like Tata Steel, Vedanta Resources, Bhushan Steel, JSW Steel among others. The retail sector, with a growth rate of around 25 per cent, received investments worth US$ 20.47 billion for the same period. The telecom sector had also attracted huge investments. "The sector attracted US$ 20.44 billion by major telecom players like Reliance Communication, Airtel and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure.”

A report by ASSOCHAM’s research bureau revealed that the Indian economy is witnessing a fusillade of investments with five states, notably Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Rajasthan, counting as top preferred investment destinations by private players. The capacity expansion plans announced by Indian corporates were worth US$ 243 billion in the first six months of the current calendar year, as against US$ 131.32 billion between July-December 2007 according to the report on state-wise investments.

Maharashtra tops the chart with investment commitments worth US$ 27.76 billion in sectors like power, real estate, automobiles, ports and shipping. While the announcement by Tata Power for investment of US$ 5.77 billion to raise power generation capacity to 12,861 MW for the next five years was one of the investment highlights, Reliance Industries announced its plan for setting up a semi conductor plant and other micro-technology units with investments worth US$ 5.01 billion for the next 10 years.

Andhra Pradesh saw the second highest investment announcements with investment proposals by major industry groups like Reliance Industries, Hindujas Group, Videocon Industries Ltd and GAIL India taking it to a neat US$ 24.57 billion figure. Overall, the state received a share of 10.11 per cent of the total planned investments.

National Aluminum Cooperation (NALCO) made the third largest announcement in Orissa worth US$ 3.23 billion towards a greenfield aluminium and captive power plant. The State of West Bengal also saw big ticket announcements worth US$ 19.26 billion for steel, manufacturing and hospitality sector.

Haryana has seen investments amounting to US$ 8.32 billion in the industrial sector over the last three years. Projects worth another US$ 16.67 billion are on the anvil.

A total of 24 states were tracked by the research bureau. Apart from these investment plans, expenditures worth US$ 15.73 billion are in the offing for sectors including steel, cement, hospitality and telecom.