Various initiatives announced by the government to push private investments seem to have met with certain success with the capital expenses provided by companies in 2024-25, which increased by 55.5% to Rs 6.56 Lakh crore compared to the real CAPE of RS 4.22 Lakh crores in FY24.
However, becoming more cautious, the planned capex plans of companies dropped from 25.5% to Rs 4.88 Lakh crosses during fiscal year 26. But overall, the aggregated Capex recovered and increased by 66.3% over the period of four years compared to 2021-2022, while it was at RS 3.94 Lakh crore.
These are some of the main conclusions of the inaugural publishing of the prospective investment survey of the private sector investment intentions undertaken by the National Statistical Office from November 2024 to January 2025.
“Despite challenges such as low demand, geopolitical tensions and high borrowing costs, around 30% of companies plan to invest in improvement in 2024-25, supporting the significant increase in capex for this year. The CAPEX slightly less than 2025 to 26, although still above 2023 at 24 levels, reflects a caster planning after a solid 2024-25 ”.
Overall, the trend indicates an increasing confidence in businesses and a judicious approach to investment in the context of improving economic certainty, he said.
In total, 2,172 companies submitted complete information for the five years of the reference period, forming a fixed panel. Of the 3,064 responding companies, 2,172 reported their CAPEX intentions for 2025-2026. “The data indicates a cautious approach to respondents in the declaration of their capital expenditure plans. Consequently, CAPEX data for 2025-2026 should be interpreted with caution, considering the conservative approach and apprehension shown by responding companies in the declaration of these figures,” said the ministry.
During fiscal year 25, provisional capital expenses estimated by company to acquire new assets in 2024-2025 is at Rs 172.2 Brove, revealed the investigation. Among the sectors, manufacturing companies represent the largest share at 43.8%, followed by those of “information and communication activities” (15.6%) and “transport and storage activities” (14%).
The 40.3% strategy of companies consists in undertaking CAPEX on basic assets in 2024-2025, followed by 28.4% to invest in value added to existing assets, he revealed.
The next round of the CAPEX survey is expected to be carried out in October at December 2025.
Bringing the inaugural investigation was not an easy task. “In this inaugural edition of the survey, the participation of the industry varied, with an overall response rate of 58.3% (58.6% in the census sector and 57.2% in the sample sector). Respondents seemed cautious in the disclosure of CAPEX plans, often in the process of management approval,” said the ministry, adding that the findings may be considered as indicative and subject A refinion in future itters.
The ministry also developed that opinions had been issued to selected companies, explaining the objectives of the survey and ensuring confidentiality. However, some companies have called into question the legitimacy of opinions containing portal references, leading to several cyber risk problems.
Explaining the procedures for using the portal by phone was difficult, said the ministry, adding that data analysis has revealed problems such as incorrect unit inputs and non-responses to monitoring requests. Companies have also been faced with difficulties in selecting the Cor Corrects codes and estimating future investments when the official data were not available.
“Although the response rate and results are generally promising, this initial investigation tour can be considered an experimental phase, providing precious information to refine the questionnaire, methodology, estimation processes and global implementation,” he said.
