Business Today launches India's most comprehensive Business Confidence Survey

First round of survey show cautious optimism among 500 Indian CEOs/CFOs
75 per cent of respondents expect sales to be better in the coming six months
67 per cent believe the overall economy today is in a better shape than six months ago
57 per cent say profitability margins are moderately or substantially better

Respondents to Business Today's Business Confidence Survey believe the business environment is moderately better, despite high inflation and financing costs. Three-fourths of the 500 Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers surveyed expect sales to be substantially or moderately better in the next six months.

The optimism was spread across the three segments surveyed by market research agency C fore for Business Today, India's top magazine by readership, in early March just after the Union Budget and before an earthquake and tsunami set off a nuclear meltdown in Japan.

Overall Business confidence index on a scale of 100 for the quarter January to March 2011 is Related Articles Business Confidence Survey: Why business loves inflation	74.8
Business confidence index for Heavy Engineering for the quarter January to March 2011 is	73.4
Business confidence index for Light industry for the quarter January to March 2011 is	74.5
Business confidence index for Services for the quarter January to March 2011 is	75.7

(On a scale of 100)

Business Today will conduct the survey and publish it at the end of every quarter. The magazine believes it will soon become a benchmark for business confidence in India. "As the economy prospers and more and more Indian companies become global, Corporate India needs an independent survey to take its temperature and benchmark its confidence. Business Today's Business Confidence Index fills that need," Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie said.

The first survey was published in Business Today's May 1 edition, currently on the newsstands. Other salient findings of the survey are:

-    65 per cent of respondents predict hiring to moderately or substantially scale up hiring
-    Almost 70 per cent see order book positions improving in the next six months
-    Nearly 80 per cent see profits rising moderately or substantially in the next six months

Commenting on the first Business Today Business Confidence index, Swati Piramal, Director, Piramal Healthcare, said: "The demand in the domestic - as well as international - market across urban, semirural and rural sectors is what is boosting the confidence index." Added Videocon Group Chairman V.N. Dhoot: "The Rs 3 lakh crore a year the Centre is pumping into developing rural markets and infrastructure is a boost."