Winning Bizness Economic Desk
The blue-chip, highly diversified Adani Group has said that it plans to invest Rs 30,000-crore in Kerala in the next five-year period.
The Group, it must be pointed out here, already operates the Vizhinjam port as well as the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
The Group will be developing a logistics and e-commerce hub as well as expanding its cement manufacturing capacity in the state.
“We are committing an additional investment of Rs 20,000-crore,” Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd’s Managing Director, Mr Karan Adani, said at the Invest Kerala Global Summit recently.
Mr Adani said that the Group would be expanding the capacity of Thiruvananthapuram airport from 4.5-million passengers per annum to 12-million passengers per annum at an investment of Rs 5,500-crore.
A point to be highlighted here is that a logistics and e-commerce hub would be set up in Kochi and the cement manufacturing capacity would be increased in Kochi, he said.
In total, the Group would invest Rs 30,000-crore in the next five-years in Kerala.
Kerala Attracts Rs 1.53-trn Worth Investment Proposals at Investor Summit
The southern coastal state of Kerala has attracted investment proposals worth Rs 1.53-trillion from 374 companies during the two-day global investors summit, with the largest component of Rs 30,000-crore coming from the Adani Group.
The state’s industry minister Mr P Rajeeve said that during the February 21-22 Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) 2025, a total of 24 IT companies have expressed interest in expanding their operations at an additional investment of nearly Rs 8,500-crore and additional employment of 60,000.
About 66 companies have submitted Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for investments to the tune of Rs 500-crore.
The minister said that IKGS 2025 has enhanced the confidence of investors in the potential of the state.
Other major investment commitments have come from Hi Lite Group (Rs 10,000-crore), Tofl Pathanamthitta Infra (Rs 5,000-crore), Lulu Group (Rs 5,000-crore), Monarch Surveyors and Engineering Consultants (Rs 5,000-crore), Sri Avantika International (Rs 4,300-crore) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (Rs 900-crore).
The minister said that the government is looking for “realistic” investment proposals. He also said that a special committee would be constituted for framing fresh guidelines for the utilisation of plantation land and also that a minister-level committee would be set up to give exemptions from land rules.
“I would like to assure the business community that there is a specific structured mechanism for proper professional follow-up of each EoI. A nodal officer will be assigned and a committee chaired by the chief secretary will do the periodic review. The chief minister will hold review meetings to evaluate the progress of the EoIs,” Mr Rajeeve said.
Around 3,000 global industry leaders, planners, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, prospective investors and delegates from 26 countries converged at IKGS 2025.
India’s Forex Reserves Drop USD 2.54-bn to USD 635.721-bn
The country’s foreign exchange reserves slipped by USD 2.54-billion to USD 635.721-billion as of February 14. This is according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data and this dip in reserves broke a three-week rising trend.
The Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), the largest component of forex reserves, dropped by USD 4.515-billion to USD 539.591-billion.
Gold reserves, however, saw a northward movement of USD 1.942-billion, reaching USD 74.15-billion during the week.
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased by USD 19-million to USD 17.897-billion and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) edged up by USD 14-million to USD 4.083-billion.
Services Sector Growth Ups India’s Pvt Sector Output to Six-Month High
Private sector output in the country rose at the fastest pace in six-months during February, amid a quicker expansion in services activity, according to the HSBC flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey released recently. The index compiled by S&P Global increased to 60.6 in February from January’s final reading of 57.7. The latest survey that provides an early indication of the final data also indicated a stronger growth of aggregate sales, which exerted upward pressure on operating capacities and prompted companies to up hiring. The index measures monthly change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors. It has been above the 50-level separating growth from contraction for the 43rd consecutive month. “The rate of growth was also well above its long-run average. Service providers noted a quicker increase than manufacturers and one that was the strongest in just under a year,” the survey said. In the manufacturing sector, the flash PMI, which is a composite measure of new orders, output, employment, supplier delivery times and inventory levels, noted that the majority of the manufacturing PMI sub-components retreated since January. On the export front, the survey stated that the companies operating across the country’s private sector economy continued to note improved international demand for their goods and services. Collectively, new export orders rose at the fastest rate in seven-months with panellists reporting gains from across the globe. Goods producers led on this front, despite a mild loss of growth momentum. On the employment front, the survey stated that in line with the trend for unfinished business, services companies recruited staff at a stronger pace than goods producers. At the composite level, the overall rate of job creation climbed to a new series peak.
The final manufacturing PMI figure for January will be released on March 3, while the services and composite PMI figures will be released later on March 5.
Eco Growth Likely to Push Up Uttar Pradesh Govt Tax Revenue 16 pc in FY 26
The Yogi Adityanath-spearheaded Uttar Pradesh government has estimated that there would be a 16 per cent northward movement in tax revenue in the next financial year (FY 26), signalling an increase in economic activities.
Uttar Pradesh has estimated the tax kitty to rise by Rs 75,000-crore to reach the Rs 5.50-trillion in FY 26 against the estimated tax revenue—including both own tax and the state’s share in central taxes—that was roughly Rs 4.75-trillion in FY 25.
The 16 per cent increase in the state’s estimated tax revenue is higher than the growth of 11 per cent estimated by the Centre in the Union Budget presented early-February this year.
A point to note here is that the share of Uttar Pradesh in central taxes is expected to hit Rs 2.55-trillion in the next financial year as against Rs 2.18-trillion in FY 25.
The northern state, India’s biggest, has registered an uptick in tax collection over the past few years owing to the growing bouquet of mega infrastructure projects that have catalysed the socio-economic contours.
A point to highlight here is that the growth of the tourism segment has helped other sectors such as hospitality, real estate, transport and logistics to gain traction, boosting investor sentiments and contributing to higher tax collection.
Recently while addressing the media, the state’s chief minister Mr Yogi Adityanath said that his government has adopted fiscal prudence and discipline. “Once reckoned as a bimaru state, Uttar Pradesh has now emerged as a revenue-surplus state,” he said.
The Uttar Pradesh budget estimates total receipts of Rs 7.79-trillion, including revenue receipts of Rs 6.62-trillion and capital receipts of Rs 1.6-trillion.
An important point here is that Uttar Pradesh reported improvement in the quality of expenditure with the capex increasing to 19.3 per cent from 14.8 per cent of total expenditure during FY 23.
The Niti Aayog, it must be highlighted here, has ranked Uttar Pradesh among front-runners in the fiscal health index of states. Moreover, UP’s annual budget FY 26 has expanded 9.8 per cent at more than Rs 8.08-trillion as compared to the FY 25 annual budget of Rs 7.36-trillion.
