Amidst expectations that economic activity would gather pace in the current year, there is optimism among companies that green shoots of recovery, which have started becoming evident, would be sustained.

This finds a reflection in the CII Business Confidence (BCI) which has gone up to an all-time high of 64.1 during the fourth quarter of 2016-17 as against 56.5 recorded in the previous quarter. There has been a sharp rise in the CII-BCI after it remained subdued in the last few quarters.

Commenting on the recent rebound in Business Confidence, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII stated that the turnaround in business expectations, as indicated in the survey, gives credence to the belief that a new growth narrative is being scripted for the country based on improved business sentiment and investor confidence.

A sharp uptick in business outlook, at the onset of 2017, underpins the hope that the reform initiatives of the government would unravel a host of investment opportunities for firms, going forward.

These findings are a part of CII's 98th edition of quarterly Business Outlook Survey, which was based on around 200 responses from large, medium, small and micro firms, covering all regions of the country.

The significant rise in the index this quarter could be attributed to the distinct improvement in the Expectations Index even as there is a marginal uptick in the Current Situation Index, indicating that business sentiment is strong and firms are particularly upbeat about activity in their sectors in the future.

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