Following is an excerpt from a report in orissadiary.com.

As per the Assocham Investment Meter (AIM) assessment report for corporate investments across states and sectors, total investment plans of India Inc. increased significantly from Rs. 7,971,464 crore in 2009 to Rs. 10,097,472 crore during the period of April-September, 2010. Among the 20 major states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Orissa carved out a majority share of 13.2 per cent, 11.4 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

… Among the top investment attracting states, Gujarat remains on the top registering the highest share of 13.2 per cent in domestic investment plans during the period of April-September, 2010. The state witnessed Rs. 1,330,743 crore worth of capex plans which are 17.3 per cent higher as compared to the total investment realized in the state during the past year. Also, the state attracted majority of investment plans in the power, manufacturing and services sectors.

Similarly, Maharashtra stood at second position registering growth of 19.3 per cent (Y-o-Y) and 13.2 per cent share of the total investments made during April-September 2010-11. The state attracted whopping investments plans of Rs. 1,154,197 crore during the said period. The Services and Real Estate were the prominent among the sectors that attracted majority share of the investments.

The availability of rich mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along with cheap availability of manpower helped Orissa to rank amongst the top three states in attracting corporate investments.

The state was ranked third on investment radar with total planned investments stood at Rs. 1,134,716 crore during the H1 period of FY’11. The state recorded a hike of about 20.0 per cent in overall investments over the previous year. Among the sectors Manufacturing and Power companies have received the major proportion of the investments.

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh stood at fourth and fifth position by attracting investment plans worth Rs. 915,060 crore and Rs. 866,776 crore respectively during in H1 of 2010.