The opening up of the economy and implementation of a broad set of measures under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package have led to a continuous improvement in the performance of businesses, according to a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Dhruva Advisors that found Indian firms are expecting even better results in 2021.
The prospect of an introduction of a vaccine for COVID-19 early next year has improved the confidence level of businesses. Almost 74 per cent of the respondents foresee a significant positive impact on their business once the vaccine is available.
COVID-19 induced travel restrictions have limited the ability of companies to undertake business operations efficiently and 74 per cent respondents validated this. To overcome this challenge and maintain business operations, companies have leveraged digital tools for communication.
Given the benefits of use of technology, 64 per cent of the surveyed companies said moving forward, they will use a mix of travel and virtual meetings even after the situation becomes normal, a FICCI press release said.
Another major outcome of COVID-19 is the likely shift in global supply chains away from China to other economies. Nearly 70 per cent of the survey participants said India could benefit from this move and they expect a fair share of manufacturing to shift from China to India in the near future.
Forty five per cent of the companies rated the latest set of announcements made under Atmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0 as ‘good to excellent’.
With improvement seen in the economy, nearly 40 per cent of the surveyed companies are currently operating at a capacity utilisation level of over 70 per cent. The figure was 30 per cent in August.
Nearly half of the surveyed companies reported they have seen an increase in their order books and about 40 per cent said their exports have increased.
