New projects involving setting up of factories, buildings and other assets fell to their lowest levels since the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic began. While there were Rs 7.01 trillion worth of new assets in December 2019, this fell 88.6 per cent to Rs 80,000 crore for the three months ending December 2020, shows data from project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Money spent on creating new assets like manufacturing plants is called capital expenditure and can be a key driver of economic growth. Companies typically invest in setting up additional manufacturing or production capacity when they anticipate that their existing capacity will not be able to keep up with demand. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic hit demand sharply, shows official data.