No pandemic jitters: India Inc CEOs bullish on growth, PwC survey

As per PwC Annual Global CEO Survey released on Monday, as many as 99% of top CEOs in India believe India’s economic growth will improve over the next 12 months. When it comes to the revenue prospects of their own companies, 98% of CEOs are confident about growth in the same time period.

As many as 94% Indian CEOs are optimistic about global economic growth improving over the next 12 months, as against 77% of global CEOs. The survey carried out between October-November, 2021 covered 4,446 CEOs in 89 countries and territories. The India highlights include insights from 77 CEOs from India.

“While for the most part, CEOs globally are at least as optimistic as they were last year about the prospects for economic growth in 2022, the optimism of India CEOs up from 88% last year stands out at 94%,” noted the PwC survey.

While there is optimism, concerns about some clear threats for India’s CEOs continue to remain. They listed out cyber risks, health risks and rising geopolitical conflict among key challenges going forward.

“After a challenging year, business leaders are under pressure to deliver top-line results. It will require them to take proactive steps to mitigate current and future risks be they around technology, cyber security, talent or health,” said Sanjeev Krishan, Chairman, PwC India.

Despite rising interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG), long-term strategy for most companies is still primarily driven by business metrics, both globally and in India.

“Most CEOs have goals related to non financial outcomes,” the survey highlighted.