Key Points

"With global uncertainties, respondents reported that the overall Cost of Doing Business (CoDB) has risen moderately (with roughly 47 per cent indicating a moderate increase and about 37 per cent noting a significant uptick)," the industry body said.

The firms say that key cost drivers such as infrastructure spending, high financing costs, and skilled labour expenses have emerged as recurring challenges, impacting their business operations.

Among the other reforms suggested are ESG requirements, strict control on Chinese electronic imports, and government support in technological lag.

The industry body added that research & development, reducing export finance costs, improving Rupee trade competitiveness, enhancing logistics efficiency, and ESG related requirements are some of the factors that will help India to attain the goal of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2030.

On highlighting the difficulties faced by the Indian firms, the industry body added that large firms with an annual turnover more than Rs 250 crore reported logistics and transportation, infrastructure cost, skilled labour, and cost of finance as major challenges.

Other firms with annual turnover equal to or less than Rs 250 crore reported that skilled labour, infrastructure cost, cost of finance, compliance and cascading effect of taxes and duties are major challenges.

"Indian industry shows potential to contribute to India's economic growth. However, tapping into this potential will require targeted policy efforts, infrastructure development, and other related initiatives. The current business outlook is cautiously optimistic and expects that reforms will yield significant improvements in the export ecosystem," Assocham stated.

Assocham said that the economic outlook for Indian industries presents a mixed picture of optimism and structural challenges.

While nearly 15 per cent of the overall respondent firms report positive engagement with policy schemes like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI), a majority indicate a need for broader market integration and support.

The report added that although the PLI scheme is a positive initiative by the Government of India to boost domestic manufacturing and increase exports by providing financial incentives to companies, only 15 per cent overall and 32 per cent of exporting firms acknowledged its benefits.

Highlighted by the survey, the respondent expects seven broad regulatory reforms.

Improvements in Direct Tax Regime, Legal & Contract Enforcement Reforms, Steps to Reduce the Overall CoDB, Simplified GST Framework, Lower Cost of Capital, Single-Window Clearance System are the top seven expectations of the industry, the survey's findings revealed.

These responses highlight the industry's desire for balanced fiscal and monetary strategies that support both affordability and business sustainability, while the long-term expectations, if brought to fruition, can improve technological advancement to keep up with global competition and help Indian exports remain attractive in international markets, reduce delays and costs, among other benefits.

- ANI