Industry body Ficci’s latest Business Confidence Survey has shown marked improvement in the optimism level of members of India Inc vis-à-vis the previous survey.

Improvement in both current conditions as well as expectations index has pulled the Overall Business Confidence Index value to a decadal high in the current survey. The Overall Business Confidence Index stood at 74.2 in the current round, vis-à-vis the index value of 70.9 reported in the previous survey and 59.0 reported a year back, a Ficci statement said.

“The recently announced Union Budget 2021-22 has been forward looking. This together with measures announced as a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package has infused optimism amongst industry members and the same is corroborated in the improved outlook for various operational parameters,” the statement said.

Improved economic conditions and greater pricing power are likely to drive profits for corporate India over the next two quarters, the survey revealed.

However, though the demand situation has improved on back of the release of the pent-up demand build up during the lockdown, the rising raw material costs are emerging as new challenges. The rise in fuel and other commodity prices is beginning to exert pressure on the input costs of companies, the survey said.