India ranks 4th in global confidence survey: KPMG

Confidence level of Indian CEOs is on a par with with their Australia counterparts

Despite India emerging as the fastest growing economy in the world, the country's industry honchos rank slightly below their Chinese, Spanish and Italian peers when it comes to being confident in their country's economic growth.

A global survey conducted by KPMG International shows Indian CEOs rank fourth in terms of their confidence level in India's economic growth over the next three years. Their confidence level stands at 85 per cent in comparison to China's 95 per cent, Spain's 90 per cent and Italy's 89 per cent.

Interestingly, the confidence level of Indian CEOs is on a par with their counterparts in Australia, the study, which interviewed 1,276 chief executives from across the world, shows. CEOs from banking, insurance, consumer goods, auto and energy among others were part of the survey.

Also, India appears not to be a very promising place to start greenfield projects, the study reveals. About 36 per cent CEOs said they looked to India for new market growth and development in comparison to US's 64 per cent. India ranks last on the list, behind rival China and Western Europe, the study says. Also, global CEOs appear more inclined to step into India by acquiring a company, says Leif Zierz, global head of deal advisory, KPMG. "Inorganic growth is often the only, or easier, option to enter emerging markets like China and India," he notes in the study.

Also, 54 per cent of global CEOs feel confident about their respective companies' ability to grow. The comparative number for India was not available. Even then, this is not a very inspiring figure from a global point of view, experts say.

According to the study, about 86 per cent of the CEOs are concerned about the loyalty of their customers, 72 per cent find it hard to keep their products and services up to date, while 66 per cent say they are concerned about the relevancy of their products and services three years from now.

Surprisingly, in an era of innovation, only 56 per cent of global CEOs reveal they don't have developed processes for innovations in their respective organisations.

"While their (CEOs) confidence about the growth of the economy and their own companies has waned since last year, they will continue to be heavily impacted by the still uncertain global economic growth and the regulatory environment. Setting the course for growth in this tough new environment will require new strategies, new tools and new ideas", the study says.