India Inc is expecting a swifter economic recovery from the impact of the second wave, a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s CEO poll of 119 top corporate honchos has shown.

“The deadly second wave has not affected much of the economic activities as the lockdowns were largely designed to limit social gathering and this has helped limit the impact of the second wave on economic growth when compared to the first wave,” Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said in a statement.

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About 59 per cent of the CEOs polled expect the recovery in sales to be better than in the first wave for their companies.

However, pace of vaccination will be critical for mitigating the impact of the second wave on economic activity and boosting consumer sentiment. Most business houses have made concerted efforts to vaccinate their employees.

The survey revealed that 55 per cent of the employees of the polled firms have been vaccinated with at least the first dose of the vaccine.

About 49 per cent of the CEOs expect consumer demand to be better in the first half of 2021-22 when compared to the same period in 2019-20. Similarly, 72 per cent of the CEOs expect private investments to be better in the first half of the current fiscal year when compared to the same period in 2019-20.

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External demand has also remained supportive, with the majority of the respondents expecting that the second wave in India will not have an adverse impact on exports.

The buoyant external demand is buttressed by large-scale global stimulus and the fast pace of vaccination coverage across key global economies, CII said.