The Indian economy has been severely damaged by Covid-19 and the lockdown. The IMF forecasts negative growth of minus 10,3 percent for India. Our export economy is also suffering from this. Loud India business climate index 43 percent of medium-sized companies rate their current business situation in India as bad, 39 percent as satisfactory - and currently only about one in six as good.

The figures regarding the outlook for the next 12 months suggest that the economic recession in India may not last long. Every second company is already looking positively into the future.

Equally pleasing: Four out of ten companies surveyed in India have not had to record any loss of sales since the lockdown or have even continued to grow.

However, 58 percent complain about a drastic drop in sales and are currently struggling with several challenges. These particularly concern sales and liquidity; followed by topics such as supply chain management, the implementation of hygiene concepts as well as process control and optimization (keyword: cost savings). Almost half of those surveyed now feel forced to work on the Indian market with fewer resources and are therefore concerned with restructuring measures.

However, one in five companies sees new sales opportunities in India due to/after Covid-19. One in three even wants to expand local production activities in India even more, essentially following the Indian government's appeal. This is currently intensively promoting foreign investments and wants to position India as an alternative manufacturing location to China. Foreign investors should help make the Indian economy more self-sufficient - keyword “Self-Reliant India” (Atmanirbhar Bharat).

This call is aimed directly at European companies that have exactly those technologies and products that India urgently needs now: environmental technology, renewable energies, medical technology, infrastructure, mechanical and vehicle construction, electrical engineering, chemicals and much more. What economic environment awaits them there? That's what this year's is trying to do India business climate index to sketch.