Power sector attracts major share of investment proposals

Five states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, attracted about 50 per cent of the total Rs 105 lakh crore investment proposals made in 20 states, a study has said. "These five states have emerged as the most preferred investment destinations attracting 52.42 per cent of total investment proposals of about Rs 105 lakh crore made in 20 states in the past four years," an Assocham study said.

Gujarat received investment proposals worth Rs 12 lakh crore, followed by Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in a statement. Among sectors, which received maximum amount of funds in these states, electricity topped the chart receiving 40.3 per cent investments, followed by services 22.6 per cent, manufacturing 22.1 per cent, real estate 9.9 per cent and mining 2.4 per cent, the study said. It said that electricity sector got the highest share of investments in states like Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. States like Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Maharashtra emphasised more on development of services industry, the study said. For real estate sector, Haryana was a major destination as it attracted 57.8 per cent of the total investment proposals, it added. Apart from these five states others in the list included West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh.