India among top nations on CEOs confidence on investment plans, economic growth: PwC survey

DAVOS: India is among the top countries in terms of investment plans made by CEOs and also in terms of their confidence in the country's economic growth, a global survey showed on Monday.

Releasing its annual CEO survey here on the first evening of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, PwC said nearly 9 out of 10 Indian CEOs remain confident of economic growth as they plan headcount increases and continued AI rollout.

India also remains among the top five territories (along with the US, the UK, Germany and Chinese Mainland) for global CEOs’ investment plans, the survey found.

Almost 51 per cent of Indian CEOs were positive about GenAI’s impact on profitability, while one-third of Indian CEOs noted revenue increases from climate-friendly investments over the past five years.

For more than 40 per cent of Indian CEOs, product and service innovation is the most common reinvention action in the last 5 years, PwC said.

Four in 10 CEOs in India and across the world said their companies have started to compete in at least one new sector/industry in the last five years.

According to the survey, which polled more than 4,700 CEOs across 109 countries, of which more than 75 were from India, 87 per cent of Indian CEOs were upbeat about the country's economic growth, surpassing the global average of 57 per cent.

Nearly 74 per cent were very confident about their respective companies’ revenue growth in the next three years.

From a macro perspective, India’s robust economic growth, improved ease of doing business (EoDB), infrastructural developments, and its young and skilled workforce continue to attract investors, PwC said.

However, this confidence was tempered by certain challenges. Of these, technological disruption remains top of mind for Indian CEOs, followed by macroeconomic volatility and inflation, and low availability of skilled labour. Disruptive technology was also listed by Indian CEOs as one of the top two factors influencing their company’s low economic viability.

Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India, said, “For CEOs today, the challenge is to envision the ecosystem in which their company will operate in the future. This includes thinking through the impacts of megatrends like climate change and AI, evolving customer needs, shifting value pools, and the roles that their company will play.”