‘Private investment cycle showing divergent trend’

Mumbai: India’s private investment cycle is showing divergent trends, RBI said in its August bulletin. The total cost of projects sanctioned by banks and financial institutions fell to Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2024-25 from Rs 3.9 lakh crore a year earlier, reflecting “tepid investment optimism.“In contrast, envisaged capex from pipeline projects across funding channels stood at Rs 2.2 lakh crore in 2024-25 and is projected to rise to Rs 2.7 lakh crore in 2025-26. The rise is supported by stronger corporate balance sheets, higher capacity use, easy liquidity and policy push through PLI schemes and infra spending. Much of this pipeline is in greenfield infrastructure.RBI said intentions alone are not enough and stressed that “sustained monitoring of project implementation and supportive policy measures will be vital” to ensure investment materialises.