Private Sector CAPEX Remains Strong, Investment Realisation At 96%: NSO

New Delhi, Mar 24 (KNN) The National Statistics Office (NSO) has in a survey found strong capital expenditure (CAPEX) trends in the private corporate sector, with actual investments closely aligning with earlier intentions and indicating continued momentum in the coming years.

According to the latest forward-looking CAPEX survey conducted during October–December 2025, the actual capex incurred in 2024–25 stood at Rs 173.5 crore per enterprise, compared to the intended Rs 180.2 crore, resulting in a high realisation ratio of 96.3 percent. This suggests that corporate investment activity largely remained on track.

Strong Investment Realisation

The provisional aggregate CAPEX for 2025–26 is estimated at Rs 11,43,879 crore, reflecting sustained investment activity. For 2026–27, aggregate CAPEX intentions are pegged at Rs 9,55,281 crore, based on responses fr0m enterprises, with about 78.3 percent of surveyed firms reporting their investment plans for the next financial year.

The NSO noted that firms typically adopt a conservative approach when reporting future investment plans, suggesting that actual investments may exceed current projections.

Investment Patterns And Funding Sources

The survey highlights that nearly 48.63 percent of enterprises focused their investments on core assets during 2025–26, while 38.36 percent planned to invest in value addition to existing assets. 

A smaller share of firms pursued opportunistic investments (14.54 percent), while only a limited number adopted debt-related or distressed asset strategies.

In terms of investment objectives, around 60.13 percent of enterprises undertook CAPEX primarily for income generation, followed by 42.12 percent for capacity upgradation. 

Diversification accounted for 7.2 percent of investments, with other unspecified reasons making up 17.64 percent.

Internal accruals remained the dominant source of funding, accounting for 65.35 percent of total CAPEX in 2025–26. This was followed by domestic debt at 23.25 percent and equity financing at 3.78 percent. 

External funding sources played a limited role, with foreign debt contributing 2.38 percent and foreign direct investment (FDI) accounting for 1.04 percent.

Analysis of a fixed panel of 3,819 enterprises that reported data across three financial years (2024–25 to 2026–27) shows a modest but steady increase in CAPEX, with a growth rate of 1.9 percent over the period.

The survey covered 14,257 large private corporate enterprises across manufacturing, trade and other sectors, selected based on turnover thresholds using data fr0m the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

(KNN Bureau)