Long-elusive capex may be back

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Editor's note: For over a decade now, a combination of high levels of debt, excess capacity and slow economic growth has seen companies withhold capital expenditure. That may be about to change. The indications are all there. Some of India’s top companies, across key sectors like energy, steel, cement and automobiles, have over the past year announced serious capital expenditure plans. At The Morning Context, we have documented several such moves, be it Tata Steel wanting to regain the No.1 spot in the domestic steel industry or the outlays of Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani on renewable energy and now Anil Agarwal’s mega plan to put up a semiconductor plant in Gujarat. There is also pressure from the Union government on companies to step up investment. On Tuesday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged the private sector to invest, saying that the government alone could not be expected to do all the heavy lifting on infrastructure projects. She added that while the inflows of foreign direct investment and portfolio investment indicated confidence in the country, the domestic industry was yet to step …