Good times here to stay, says upbeat India Inc

An overwhelming percentage of Indian companies believed that the current economic conditions were better than what they were six months ago and that the good times will continue to roll.

In a survey conducted by Ficci to measure business confidence, 85 per cent of the respondents expressed that the current overall economic conditions were moderately to substantially better compared to the last six months.

Almost 439 companies from various sectors like textiles, telecom, pharmaceuticals, financial services, food and beverages and business process outsourcing, with turnovers ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 89,000 crore took part in the survey.

The survey is based on responses from the heavy industry sector (48 per cent), light industry (35 per cent) and services (17 per cent). Ficci President Saroj Poddar said all the three confidence indices computed in the present round of the survey had taken a value in the significantly optimistic zone.

The current conditions index stands at 74.2, the expectations index stands at 76.1 and the overall business confidence index has taken a value of 75.5.

Further, nearly 80 per cent of the participating firms expected overall economic conditions to be moderately to substantially better in the coming six months.

Seventy-seven per cent of the respondents said the current performance of their industry sectors had been moderately to substantially better as compared to the last six months.

Industries' outlook for the performance in the near future is very positive with 81 per cent respondants looking forward to a much better performance of their industry sectors in the next six months.

At the companies' level, 74 per cent of the respondents reported a "moderate to substantially better" current performance compared to last six months, while 20 per cent reported to have sustained their level of performance.

Riding on the booming economy, India Inc has projected a better performance in the next six months of the current financial year. Companies' outlook on all operational parameters like sales, selling price, profits, investments, employment and exports has improved further, according to the

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry survey

The strengthening domestic and overseas demand have resulted in higher capacity utilisation levels. Indian companies also expect that in the next six months employment generation would be much higher, not just in the services sector but also in manufacturing.

According to Ficci's quarterly business confidence survey (BCS) for the last quarter of 2005-06, "The improved economic and business outlook augursss well for the overall industrial and economic performance in fiscal 2006-07, and a consecutive fourth year of high growth is well within reach."

The performance of Indian economy has seen a quantum jump and it is moving on to a new growth trajectory, the survey pointed out.