Animal spirits fade as new projects fall in June qtr

A sharp decline in government projects primarily drove slowdown in the recently concluded June quarter

- Manjul Paul

Indian companies began 2025-26 on a subdued note, with investment appetite for new projects sinking to one of the lowest in nearly five years.

While the June quarter is often a quieter period, new government capital expenditure (capex) announcements were the lowest this year in at least a decade.

According to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's (CMIE) project tracking database, new projects worth ₹4.1 trillion were announced across the country during the first quarter of the current fiscal. This marks one of the lowest investment proposals since the first three quarters of 2020-21 (amid pandemic lockdowns) and the first quarter of 2024-25 (during general elections).