India's fresh investment plans surged 71% in Q1FY27 to approximately ₹14.77 trillion, with new private projects leading at ₹10.59 trillion, representing a 70.6% increase over Q4FY26 levels. According to reports from Projects Today, these numbers were significantly boosted by four large nuclear power projects worth ₹6.5 trillion announced in Maharashtra during May. However, excluding these nuclear projects, the picture reveals a more cautious investment environment amid West Asia-related uncertainty.
Excluding the four nuclear projects, fresh investment plans declined 4.27% quarter-on-quarter to ₹8.27 trillion in Q1FY27 from ₹8.63 trillion in Q4FY26, with private investments dropping 31.88% sequentially. As reported by Projects Today, new central government capex plans helped soften the moderation, zooming 168% to ₹2.72 trillion from ₹1.01 trillion in the previous quarter. Manufacturing, mining, oil and gas sectors experienced sequential contractions during Q1, indicating the headline increase was driven by large announcements rather than broad-based sectoral recovery.
The power sector dominated new investment plans with a 507% quarter-on-quarter uptick, while transport projects increased 60%. However, barring nuclear power, other electricity investments declined 38.47% to ₹69,258 crore. According to Projects Today, manufacturing investment fell 21.51% to ₹2.58 trillion, with metals falling 56.06% to ₹84,827 crore as previous quarter's large steel-plant announcements were absent. Oil and gas investment plans dropped 90.46% to ₹1,464 crore, while transport rose 59.51% to ₹1.9 trillion.
Maharashtra retained the top position with fresh outlays of ₹8.02 trillion across 748 projects, representing 54.34% of total investments, up 233.92% from ₹2.4 trillion in Q4. As reported by Projects Today, excluding the four nuclear projects, fresh outlay plans in Maharashtra dropped 36.6% to ₹1.52 trillion. Andhra Pradesh maintained second place despite a 27.98% decline to ₹1.13 trillion, while Karnataka moved up to third place with investments rising 232.53% to ₹83,326 crore due to the ₹16,500-crore Eastern Connectivity Tunnel project.
According to Shashikant Hegde, founder and director of Projects Today, the outlook for fresh investments remains cautious due to global uncertainty, crude oil and gas supply disruptions, and export pressure affecting investment decisions. As reported by Business Standard, he noted that the previous two quarters showed weakness across several major sectors, and Q1 FY2027 did not fully reverse that trend once nuclear projects were excluded. The revival in private investment is expected to depend on lower uncertainty in energy supplies, improved export conditions, and a clearer project execution environment.
