Second quarter sales growth for India Inc remains robust though margins are under pressure — if you exclude data for oil companies who are forced to make losses, the picture is less grim. For every firm with poor results, there are those with very good numbers. If Maruti Suzuki declared a fall in net of 37 per cent, and Tata Motors a 34 per cent fall, Hero Honda declared a 50 per cent rise; if Tata Tele declared a loss, Bharti registered a 27 per cent hike and RCom a 17 per cent hike; Tata Steel registered a 50 per cent hike, L&T 32 per cent and Tata Chemicals’ 34 per cent countered a mere 7 per cent hike in Reliance’s net and a fall of 7 per cent in ACC’s. In other words, the impact of the global financial crisis is likely to be fully reflected only in the third quarter numbers. Data for a common sample of 820 firms which account for 75 per cent of India Inc’s sales show net profit growth fell 39 per cent in the September quarter, the highest fall since 2003-04. Interest costs rose sharply to 38 per cent of PAT in the September quarter, a doubling in three months. With nearly 85 per cent of incremental capex funded through equity or debt, India Inc remains very vulnerable to capital markets and the global financial crisis.