CII’s 115th edition of quarterly Business Outlook Survey is based on more than 250 responses from large, medium, small and micro firms, covering all regions of the country.
As per the findings of the survey, a whopping 94 percent of the firms reported COVID infection among staff or their immediate family members. As a result, nearly 80 percent of the firms reported that the impact of the second wave on staff had dented their production or sales, with 51 percent of the firms indicating a fall of more than 10% in either production or sales.
Effectively, business sentiment plunged, as confidence was derailed from the peak touched in the Jan-Mar 2021 quarter, and CII’s Business Confidence Index (CII-BCI) for Apr-Jun 2021 quarter tumbled to the level of 50.4.
Looking ahead, the anticipation of the third COVID wave in India is weighing heavily on business sentiment since nearly 40 percent of the firms have indicated that a shutdown of business operation, owing to the pandemic, is their biggest concern during the next six months.
Nonetheless, firms are preparing for the challenges that lie ahead and a significant majority of the firms (82 percent) have indicated that they would be engaging in subsidized vaccination programs for their staff. Out of these, 46 percent of the firms indicated that they would also extend this facility to the immediate family members of staff.