Skip to main content

Pessimism continues to dominate India's business performance: IIM-A survey

Current costs per unit compare with this time last year: % responses
By A Representative
An Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) survey, based on responses of around 1,300 companies, has found that the cost perceptions data suggest some early signs of “moderation” of cost pressures amidst Covid-19 crisis.
Called Business Inflation Expectation Survey (BIES), it finds that over 53% of the firms believe that the current cost increase is 3.1% and above as compared to the same time last year. Over 37% of the firms perceive that the current cost increase is over 6%. However, one-fifth of the firms still perceive that current cost increase is over 10%.
Sales levels: % response
According to the survey, over 75% of the firms in May 2020 report that sales are much less than normal as against over 81% firms reporting in March 2020, adding, around 92% of the firms in the sample report that sales are ‘somewhat or much less than normal’ as against 93% reporting in March 2020. This proportion has remained over 70% since June 2019.
Profit margins: % response
The survey further finds that over 75% of firms in the sample in May 2020 report ‘much less than normal’ profit as against 81% in March 2020, underlining, over 92% of the firms in the sample expect ‘much less than normal or somewhat less than normal’ profit margins. It adds, this proportion has remained around 75% since June 2019 till January 2020.
BIES report concludes, the survey suggests, there is "very little change in perceptions -- pessimism continues to dominate business performance."

Comments

TRENDING

Neville Cardus: The man who turned cricket writing into poetry

By Harsh Thakor*  Neville Cardus was one of the most remarkable literary figures of the twentieth century. A prolific English writer and critic, he achieved distinction in two vastly different fields: cricket and classical music. Entirely self-taught, Cardus rose from humble beginnings to become both the cricket correspondent and chief music critic of The Manchester Guardian . His achievements in these contrasting disciplines earned him widespread acclaim and established him as one of the foremost critics of his generation. In February 2025, the cricketing and literary world marked the fiftieth anniversary of his death, which occurred in February 1975.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The politics of dreaming: Savita Singh's feminist imagination

By Ravi Ranjan*  In contemporary Hindi poetry, few voices have explored the philosophical and creative possibilities of women's experience as powerfully as Savita Singh. Across collections such as "Svapna Samay" (Dream Time), Aapne Jaisa Jeevan, and "Prem Bhi Ek Yatana" Hai, she has developed a poetic world in which woman is not merely a subject of suffering or social commentary but a creator of knowledge, meaning, and alternative realities.