Indicating that European debt crisis is hurting Indian businesses, a new survey has found that many domestic firms operating in Europe have suffered up to 15% revenue losses in 15 months till June 2011.
The survey by industry body Ficci, conducted from end of June 2011 till July, covered companies in diverse sectors including IT, finance and textiles.
The acute debt turmoil in Europe, which started with Greece and Ireland, has been escalating in the recent months. There are rising fears that the debt contagion could impact rich European nations such as Italy and Spain.
"Over 75% of the surveyed companies have suffered revenue losses ranging between 10-15% from the European region," the study said.
About one-fourth of the respondents feel that rather than facilitating foreign investments and businesses, amid the economic turmoil, the respective European governments have made their processes more stringent in terms of obtaining and renewing work and long-term visas, it said.
Also, there is an overall reduced ease of doing business in Europe, the study added.
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It indicated that despite the number of policy and regulatory impediments, India's outbound investments in the EU may see smaller deals, but the activity will continue.
While a number of surveyed Indian companies have begun to chalk out their global business plans with focus on looking beyond Europe, many firms are trying to turn the situation to their advantage as the overall slowdown in the EU has made valuations of companies more attractive.
"This will certainly be a positive factor to further enhance investments in European businesses," the survey said.
At present, bilateral trade between India and Europe is over $67 billion, the survey said.
The study further said, a majority of the surveyed companies have indicated that they have not encountered any barriers related to tariff or non-tariff and subsidies offered to domestic European companies, it said.
"If the situation does not improve in the next six months to one year, it might take a turn for the worse," the study said.