A new survey has revealed that while a large number of Indian businesses have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the majority felt that they are as well prepared to deal with it as possible.

“Almost half (46 per cent) of Indian businesses covered under the survey felt ‘very strongly’ impacted by the Covid pandemic. This was the highest level across all markets surveyed,” revealed HSBC’s Navigator report titled Building Back Better.

It, however, found that as much as 54 per cent of the businesses surveyed in India felt that they were as well prepared as they possibly could be.

“This is a level that is the second highest among all countries surveyed and higher than the average across all markets (45 per cent),” it noted.

It also revealed that 29 per cent of those surveyed said that they are operating as normal, which is the second highest level seen across all markets, behind mainland China.

“The fact that a substantial proportion of Indian businesses are still operating as normal may be attributed to nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of them either having a management that is sufficiently agile or being strong overall and able to manage with a number of adjustments,” it said.

The report has surveyed over 2,600 companies across 14 global markets in the world — including 200 firms from India.

It also found that 64 per cent of Indian businesses see the current environment ensuring positive changes to their products and services. “This is the joint highest across all markets surveyed (along with China) and significantly higher than the overall average at 44 per cent,” it noted.

Labour factor

However, aspects related to availability of labour have the lowest positive balance for Indian businesses with only 53 per cent seeing it being positively impacted while 25 per cent see a negative outcome from the current environment.

Rajat Verma, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC India, said, “While Covid has undeniably altered the economic landscape, Indian businesses have shown resilience in the face of adversity. Businesses will have to make varying degrees of adjustments to adapt to this altered landscape which will be the new normal for the foreseeable future.”

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