In a significant boost for India’s economic landscape, new project announcements by the Indian private sector have surged to a remarkable near 15-year high during the first half of the current financial year (2025-26). This impressive growth story unfolds even as new initiatives from both government bodies and foreign companies have seen a notable decline over the same period.
Specifically, new project commitments from both Central and State governments across India have plunged to their lowest levels in at least 15 years. Concurrently, investments originating from foreign companies have hit a five-year low, underscoring a pivotal moment in the nation’s investment patterns.
An in-depth analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reveals that the private sector announced projects totaling an astounding ₹9.95 lakh crore between April and September 2025. This figure represents a substantial 30.4% increase compared to the first half of the preceding financial year.
Within this private sector boom, it’s the Indian private entities that are truly driving the momentum. They accounted for a dominant 94% of the total value of new project announcements, committing fresh projects worth ₹9.35 lakh crore in the first half of 2025-26—a robust 37.5% increase over the corresponding period in 2024-25.
This level of investment by the Indian private sector marks its second-highest performance in any first half over the last 15 years, closely trailing the record ₹9.54 lakh crore achieved in the first half of 2023-24.
However, the data also highlights a concerning trend: India’s appeal as an investment hub for foreign companies appears to be waning. New project announcements from international firms dropped to approximately ₹0.6 lakh crore during April-September 2025, a nearly 28% decrease from the previous year’s first half.
This marks the third consecutive year of declining foreign announcements in the first six months and represents a five-year low for such figures. Foreign company project announcements had previously peaked at ₹1.9 lakh crore in the first half of 2022-23 before their subsequent downturn.
The contraction in new project announcements by foreign companies in India is particularly noteworthy as it runs contrary to broader global trends. Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicates that global foreign direct investment expanded by 11% in 2024, following a 3% increase in 2023.
Adding to the complexity, new project announcements by Indian governments—both Central and State—plummeted to just ₹1.51 lakh crore in the first six months of FY 2025-26. This represents a staggering decline of over 71% compared to their investment levels in the same period of the previous year, registering the lowest investment intention in at least 15 years, according to available data.