'Indian chief executives more sure on growth'

Corporate CEOs in India are more confident about the growth prospects of their business than their global peers, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study said on Thursday.

"The optimism in India may be more than just the euphoria following a majority growth-oriented government being voted to power at the Centre," PwC's 18th Annual Global CEO Survey said.

The report said 62 percent of Indian chief executive officers are quite confident of their growth prospects over a 12-month short-term span, which is higher than their peers globally, and up from 49 percent last year.

Moreover, 71 percent of the CEOs surveyed are very confident of growth in the next three years.

Eighty-four percent of Indian CEOs see more "opportunities" while only 41 percent see more "threats", it added.

According to the report, CEOs are ready to collaborate for access to new geographic markets, technologies and customers with 63 percent planning to enter into new strategic alliances or joint ventures over the coming year.

"CEOs in India seem to be benefiting on both counts - developments within and outside the country. Our survey reflects this exuberance of CEOs about growth of their businesses as also of the economy," PwC India chairman Deepak Kapoor said.

The only threat common to both global as well as Indian CEOs is unavailability of key skills, PwC said.

In this connection the report said the threat perception in China is much higher than in India across various parameters from the increasing tax burden to pandemics to supply chain disruptions.

Tellingly, around 82 percent of the CEOs surveyed in India said they have a strategy to promote diversity and inclusion as against the global 64 percent.