Saurabh Gupta | 06 Nov, 2009
Most of the Indian CEOs are confident of revenue growth over the next year, says World Economic Forum (WEF) in New Delhi on Thursday.

According to the India Competitiveness Review 2009, two-third of Indian CEOs remain confident about the prospects for business over the next 12 months, and more than a third believe the country's economy has either already begun to turn around or will do so before the end of the year.

The World Economic Forum has released the India Competitiveness Review 2009, in the lead-up to the India Economic Summit in New Delhi on November 8-10.

"Despite the economic downturn, most Indian CEOs are confident about the future. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they were 'very confident' of their revenue growth prospects over the next 12 months. Yet, they are also realistic and understand that there are challenges ahead," explained Jairaj Purandare, Executive Director and Leader, Markets and Industries, PricewaterhouseCoopers, India, a co-author of the study.

The study analyses India's performance in an international context. It makes comparisons with a number of countries, including the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil, revealing significant differences in performance. The review's in-depth findings will be presented and discussed at the upcoming Summit.

"As the world slowly emerges from the crisis, the time is propitious for India to take stock of its competitive strengths, as well as those areas hindering its rapid growth and development. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the World Economic Forum's engagement in India, providing an excellent opportunity to reflect upon how India's competitiveness has progressed over this period and what remains to be achieved," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

India ranks 49th out of 133 countries in the Global Competitiveness Index as a result of mixed performance across the 12 categories covered by the Index. India displays competitive strengths in areas of business sophistication, innovation and financial market sophistication. The country can also rely on fairly well-functioning institutions.

On the other hand, there is considerable room for improvement in several of the basic drivers of competitiveness, in particular infrastructure, health and primary education, while the runaway fiscal situation prevents the government from making much-needed investments.

The diffusion of information and communication technologies remains very low by international standards. Bureaucracy, over-regulation and corruption still affect the functioning of markets, in particular in the labour market.

"The India Competitiveness Review enables benchmarking of India's performance in comparison to her peers in critical areas of global competitiveness and will allow India to improve on these indicators. India remains a favourable destination for global trade and investment as we see the signs of economic recovery," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).