India's 55% firms perceive significant, sustained high-cost pressure: IIM-A survey

Costs per unit compare: % responses

By A Representative
A new Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) survey, involving responses from executives of around 1,200 companies across India, has said that the cost perceptions data indicates “sustained high-cost pressures”, with over 55% of the firms perceiving significant (over 6%) cost increase.
Called Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES), which seeks to provide ways to examine the amount of slack in the economy by polling a panel of business leaders about their inflation expectations in the short and medium term, the IIM-A report says, “Around 30% of the firms perceive that costs have increased very significantly (over 10%) – further up from the percentage responses received in July 2021.”
While stating that “sales expectations have further improved”, the survey report says, “Around 36% of the firms in August 2021 report that sales are ‘much less than normal’ as compared to the sentiment reported in July 2021.” It adds, “At the same time, firms reporting that sales are ‘somewhat greater than normal’ have increased to 14% in August 2021 from 9% reported in July 2021.”

Sales levels: % response

As for profit margins, the report says, “Around 44% of the firms in the sample in August 2021 report ‘much less than normal’ profit – further down from 46% reported in July 2021”, adding, “About 17% of the firms now report that profit expectations is ‘about normal’ – up from 14% reported in July 2021.”
The report says, “One year ahead business inflation expectations in August 2021, as estimated from the mean of individual probability distribution of unit cost increase, have declined by 37 basis points to 5.22% from 5.59% reported in July 2021.”
It adds, however, “The uncertainty of business inflation expectations, as captured by the square root of the average variance of the individual probability distribution of unit cost increase, has remained around 1.9% during July-August 2021.”

Profit margins: % response

According to the report, “Respondents were also asked to project one year ahead CPI headline inflation through an additional question using a probability distribution.” The question coincided with “the month of Reserve Bank of India’s bi-monthly monetary policy announcement.”
It adds, “Survey responses indicate a decline in one year ahead CPI headline inflation expectation. The businesses in August 2021 expect one year ahead CPI headline inflation to be 4.98%, down from 5.36% reported in July 2021, with a low standard deviation of 0.97%. It has remained above 4% since February 2020.”

Comments

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

GreenTech Summit claims NCR as key green building hub, without pan-India comparison

By A Representative The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), under the Confederation of Indian Industry, held its GreenTech Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where industry representatives, policymakers and sustainability professionals discussed the adoption of climate technologies in India’s built environment.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman* The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

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.

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan* India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Beyond the election manifesto: Why climate is now a kitchen table issue

By Vikas Meshram* March has long been a month of gentle transition, the period when winter softly retreats and a mild warmth signals nature’s renewal. Yet, in recent years, this dependable rhythm has been disrupted. This year, since the beginning of March, temperatures across vast swathes of the country have shattered previous records, soaring to between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. This is not a mere fluctuation in the weather; it is a serious and alarming indicator of climate change .

Search This Blog