Eco slowdown not affecting biz of German firms in India:Survey

Exuding confidence in India's market potential, almost a fifth of the German companies that do business in India have said that they are not impacted by the economic slowdown.     

According to a survey conducted by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) among German investors in India, managers representing 100 companies said India is a core growth market.      Two out of every three such companies want to further increase their investments in India over the next three years.    

Until 2011, 24 per cent of all German firms surveyed plan to lift their new investments in India strongly above the level of the previous three years. Another 37 per cent foresee a moderate investment increase until 2011, the survey said.     

About 29 per cent plan to keep their fresh investments over the next three years comparable to the sums they had deployed over the last three years.     

"Our survey confirms that India weathers the global crisis reasonably well," IGCC Director-General Bernhard Steinruecke said.     

About a fourth of the surveyed companies are targeting to achieve sales growth of 20 per cent or more in the current year. More than a third expect 10-20 per cent sales growth in 2009. Only 13 per cent worry about declining sales. Around 39 per cent expect a profit increase in the current year.