India Inc’s investment plans took a severe beating when the Covid pandemic raged across the country in 2020-21 with the number of new projects sanctioned dwindling and projects already in the pipeline also slowing down. Data on phasing plans for 2021-22 relating to projects in the pipeline point to persisting near-term risks to the investment outlook, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report. In all, banks and financial institutions sanctioned only 220 project proposals of the private companies during 2020-21, a record low in the recent years. The total cost of projects sanctioned too declined sharply to Rs 75,558 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 1,75,830 crore in 2019-20, the RBI said.