New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) India’s private capital expenditure recorded a sharp 67 per cent jump to Rs 7.7 lakh crore in September 2025, signalling the strongest revival in the country’s investment cycle in more than a decade, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday.

The industry body said private capex had risen significantly from Rs 4.6 lakh crore in September 2024.

CII’s analysis of nearly 1,200 companies from the CMIE Prowess database showed that manufacturing accounted for Rs 3.8 lakh crore, or nearly half of the total private investment, led by sectors such as metals, automobiles and chemicals. The services sector contributed Rs 3.1 lakh crore, driven by trading, communications and IT/ITeS industries.

Complementary economic indicators also pointed towards strengthening investment activity. Capacity utilisation among manufacturing firms rose to 75.6 per cent in the third quarter of FY26 from 74.3 per cent in the previous quarter, while new order books expanded 10.3 per cent year-on-year. Bank credit growth also accelerated sharply, averaging nearly 14 per cent in the second half of FY26 compared with around 10 per cent in the first half.

Chandrajit Banerjee said the sharp rise in private capex was the clearest sign yet that India’s investment cycle had decisively turned.

“The 67 per cent jump in private capex to Rs 7.7 lakh crore is, by some distance, the most important signal yet that India’s investment cycle has decisively turned,” he said, adding that private enterprise was now committing capital at scale across sectors in a manner not seen in well over a decade.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing West Asia crisis and global economic uncertainty, CII also unveiled a five-point industry action agenda aimed at supporting economic stability and protecting growth momentum.

The proposals include a phased rollback of the central excise duty cut on petrol and diesel over six to nine months as crude oil prices stabilise, along with a voluntary industry-led energy conservation initiative targeting a 3 to 5 per cent reduction in fuel and power consumption over the next two quarters.

The industry chamber also proposed a voluntary 45-day MSME payment guarantee backed by the TReDS platform and supply-chain finance mechanisms to ease working capital stress for small businesses during the volatile global environment.

“The credit for this turnaround belongs squarely to the Government,” Chandrajit Banerjee said, adding that industry must now translate the favourable policy environment into higher investments, jobs, exports and value addition.

–IANS

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