NEW DELHI: A significant majority of Indian chief executive officers (CEOs) are of the opinion that the Indian economy will witness improvement over the next 12 months, as the country reclaimed its fifth position as an investment destination, according to a survey.
According to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, 86% of Indian CEOs express optimism about the economy, with 62% confident in their company’s growth over the next 12 months. This reflects confidence and spotlights the fact that Indian companies leaders’ optimism about their country’s economic growth has seen a nearly 30% increase over the last one year. While global leaders remain hopeful, 44% are cautious in predicting improvements in their respective territories.
The PwC surveyed 4,702 CEOs across 105 countries, including 79 from India. “Despite continuing global headwinds, the Indian economy has remained resilient with expectations of a strong growth trajectory in the near future. While India CEOs will indeed play a big role in the country becoming a $5-trillion economy, they will also need to reinvent their businesses and work culture to ensure long-term sustainable success,” Sanjeev Krishan, chairperson, PwC India, said.
“India’s business leaders will need to strategically tackle barriers such as regulatory constraints and lack of tech capabilities to turn them into growth opportunities which will create lasting value for businesses, society and the environment,” he added.
The survey also highlights that India has reclaimed the fifth position as an investment destination for global CEOs, up from the ninth position it held in 2023.
Indian CEOs anticipate generative AI to enhance employee efficiency (71%) and their own performance (70%) in the next 12 months. They foresee potential increases in revenue (48%) and profitability (46%). While 30% believe GenAI may lead to job shrinkage, 48% expect little to no impact on headcount, and 13% anticipate an increase.
As per the survey, about 62% of Indian CEOs said they were “extremely or very confident” of their companies’ growth as against 37% of global CEOs. About 70% of India CEOs, as against 49% of global CEOs, said they were confident of their company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next three years. Despite this confidence, 59% of Indian CEOs acknowledge the need for their companies to adapt to change to stay economically viable for more than 10 years. Nearly 38% said their companies would remain economically viable for less than 10 years in this scenario.
India CEOs see inflation (which had hit a 15-month high of 7.44% in July 2023 but cooled to about 5.5% in November 2023) and cyber risks as the biggest threats to their businesses in the short term (12-month period), the survey stated. The perceived risk from cyber threats saw a jump of 10% from last year, with 28% of Indian CEOs – as against 18% last year – expecting extreme or high exposure to it. Nearly 28% of Indian CEOs expect extreme or high exposure to cyber threats, a 10% increase from the previous year, making it a significant concern.
Source: The Financial Express
