Antique Stock Broking on Tuesday said project announcements surged to Rs 26.1 lakh crore till August 2025, reflecting a strong 102 per cent YoY growth.
This expansion has been supported by last year’s low base due to Union elections and strong demand across railways, roads, manufacturing, and real estate, the brokerage said.
Despite the buoyant trend in announcements, the awarding of projects lagged, with an 18 per cent decline year-on-year up to August 2025. In August alone, project awards dipped 30 per cent year-on-year after a brief improvement in July, indicating ongoing delays.
Antique Stock Broking noted that management commentaries during Q1FY26 earnings pointed towards a potential rebound in 2HFY26 , which will be a key monitorable.
Among infrastructure names, Antique Stock Broking highlighted its preference for NCC and H.G. Infra as top picks based on their progress toward FY26 inflow guidance until August 2025. The brokerage also identified its favoured industrial stocks: “Within infrastructure, we prefer NCC and H.G. Infra, while top industrial picks include PTC Industries, BHEL, Siemens, KOEL, Transformers and Rectifiers India Ltd (TARIL), and Hitachi Energy India.”
The infrastructure sector accounted for 55 per cent of total project announcements in August, led by new road and railway initiatives. Manufacturing contributed 24 per cent, with increased activity in metals, cement, and solar modules, while the electricity segment formed 14 per cent, boosted by hydropower and coal-based projects. Real estate led in tendering activity, registering a 105 per cent year-on-year increase, followed by strong gains in power distribution and roadways, pointing to a robust project pipeline.
Despite positive capex momentum in Q1FY26, July 2025 saw a moderation with a 10 per cent year-on-year decline. However, cumulative year-to-date capex remained up 33 per cent year-on-year. To achieve the FY26 budgeted capex of Rs 11.2 lakh crore, the government is expected to incur Rs 7.7 lakh crore over the next eight months, a marginal 0.8 per cent decline in the run rate. Sector-wise, roads contracted 15 per cent year-on-year, while railways grew 9 per cent, and defence posted a sharp 67 per cent increase.
Industry competitors to the highlighted stocks include other infrastructure and industrial companies engaged in railways, road construction, power distribution, and capital equipment manufacturing. The broader context of strong government focus on infrastructure, coupled with healthy tendering activity, underscores the potential for these stocks as project awarding is expected to rebound in the latter half of FY26.