Covid 2nd wave hits India Inc’s business confidence

India Inc's business confidence has been severely hit due to the record surge in Covid-19 infections in the second wave, a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) showed.

Worsening conditions as well as muted expectations about near-term prospects pulled down the overall business confidence index by 20 points to 51.5, the industry body’s survey showed.

Companies have backed demand for another fiscal package, focusing mainly on addressing the demand side.


The Overall Business Confidence Index stood at 51.5 in the current round after reporting a decadal high value of 74.2 in previous survey round, Ficci said in a statement on Monday.

The survey was conducted during April-May and gauges the expectations of respondents from across sectors for April-September 2021. The result was, however, higher than the value of 42.9 registered a year ago, which was the lowest since 2008 financial crisis, Ficci said.

In the present round, 70% of participants reported weak demand conditions as a bothering factor compared to 56% in the previous round. The corresponding number last year was 77%.