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Date : Feb 10, 2022
Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q3:2021-22

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 31 round of its quarterly services and infrastructure outlook survey (SIOS) conducted during Q3:2021-22. This forward-looking survey captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies in the services and infrastructure sectors on a set of business parameters relating to demand conditions, price situation and other business conditions. 594 companies provided their assessment for Q3:2021-22 and expectations for Q4:2021-22 in the latest round of the survey1. Owing to uncertainties emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional block was included in this round of the survey for assessing the outlook on key parameters for two quarters ahead as well as three quarters ahead.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q3:2021-22

  • Services sector enterprises assessed improvement in overall business situation as well as in their own turnover during Q3:2021-22 (Table A).

  • Sentiments on employment conditions improved albeit at a moderate rate vis-à-vis the previous survey round.

  • Respondents reported continued input cost pressures but selling prices are assessed to have grown at a slower pace in Q3:2021-22.

  • At the aggregate level, profit margin of services sector companies is assessed to have remained around the level witnessed in the previous quarter.

Expectations for Q4:2021-22

  • Services sector firms remained fairly optimistic as reflected in their demand conditions though their expectations on overall business situation, turnover and employment conditions moderated marginally in Q4:2021-22 (Table A).

  • Respondents expect input cost pressures to continue but expect some softening in the pace of rise in selling prices in Q4:2021-22.

  • Profit margins are expected to improve at somewhat lower rate in Q4:2021-22.

Expectations for Q1:2022-23 and Q2:2022-23

  • Respondents expect sequential improvement in overall business situation, turnover and employment in the first half of 2022-23 (Table C).

  • Input cost pressures may continue.

Chart 1

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q3:2021-22

  • Infrastructure companies gauged distinct improvement in the overall business situation and their turnover (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Respondents reported notable optimism on availability of finance.

  • Sentiments on both full-time employment and part-time employment improved.

  • Infrastructure sector enterprises assessed higher pressure stemming from cost of finance and salary outgo during Q3:2021-22. Cost of inputs remained elevated.

Expectations for Q4:2021-22

  • Demand parameters in the infrastructure sector are expected to improve in Q4:2021-22 (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • The job landscape is expected to expand further in terms of both full-time and part-time employment.

  • Cost pressures are expected to continue in Q4:2021-22.

  • Profit margins of infrastructure companies are expected to increase and their physical investment is likely to be higher.

Expectations for Q1:2022-23 and Q2:2022-23

  • Overall business situation and turnover are expected to improve further during the first half of 2022-23 (Table D).

  • Input costs and selling prices are expected to rise in the infrastructure sector.

Chart 2

Summary of Net Responses2 on Survey Parameters
Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q2:2021-22 Q3:2021-22 Q3:2021-22 Q4:2021-22
Overall Business Situation 24.2 28.2 72.9 64.8
Turnover 21.0 24.7 71.3 63.1
Full-time Employees 15.6 11.8 52.9 47.2
Part-time Employees 21.2 15.2 67.6 54.8
Availability of Finance 14.4 12.4 57.2 47.3
Cost of Finance -17.9 -12.6 -53.3 -41.2
Salary & Wages -21.7 -17.2 -51.7 -48.5
Cost of Inputs -41.7 -43.5 -68.8 -72.4
Selling Price 16.8 13.0 60.2 51.4
Profit Margin 0.6 0.7 48.8 40.1
Inventories 17.4 16.0 60.4 51.5
Technical/Service Capacity 27.9 18.8 73.2 64.3
Physical Investment 26.0 15.8 68.2 60.3

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q2:2021-22 Q3:2021-22 Q3:2021-22 Q4:2021-22
Overall Business Situation 10.8 27.9 69.2 71.3
Turnover 2.9 28.1 63.3 66.7
Full-time Employees 2.5 12.7 45.8 48.5
Part-time Employees 19.6 23.5 67.3 71.1
Availability of Finance 5.8 17.9 51.9 61.9
Cost of Finance -11.8 -20.3 -47.2 -57.0
Salary & Wages -13.3 -18.7 -48.7 -59.0
Cost of Inputs -54.6 -53.8 -76.1 -81.5
Selling Price 14.1 21.6 57.9 65.5
Profit Margin -9.6 5.9 43.1 47.8
Inventories 16.4 21.9 53.6 61.4
Technical/Service Capacity 25.9 26.4 80.6 75.6
Physical Investment 25.7 29.0 70.8 75.3

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response
(in per cent)
Table C: Services Sector
Parameter Round 30 Round 31
Q3:2021-22 Q4:2021-22 Q1:2022-23 Q2:2022-23
Overall Business Situation 72.9 64.8 68.8 70.3
Turnover 71.3 63.1 68.9 71.0
Full-time Employees 52.9 47.2 57.0 57.9
Part-time Employees 67.6 54.8 62.5 63.1
Cost of Inputs -68.8 -72.4 -70.1 -69.8
Selling Price 60.2 51.4 60.1 59.8

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter Round 30 Round 31
Q3:2021-22 Q4:2021-22 Q1:2022-23 Q2:2022-23
Overall Business Situation 69.2 71.3 75.2 75.9
Turnover 63.3 66.7 72.4 75.4
Full-time Employees 45.8 48.5 62.7 63.4
Part-time Employees 67.3 71.1 78.7 77.7
Cost of Inputs -76.1 -81.5 -81.0 -79.4
Selling Price 57.9 65.5 71.4 71.2

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data.

Services Sector

Table S1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)@
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Better No Change Worse Net response# Better No Change Worse Net response
Q3:20-21 43.2 44.5 12.3 30.9 40.3 46.3 13.4 27.0
Q4:20-21 39.2 42.4 18.3 20.9 50.4 43.7 5.9 44.5
Q1:21-22 22.8 38.5 38.7 -15.9 59.3 31.5 9.2 50.1
Q2:21-22 38.7 46.8 14.5 24.2 51.9 41.1 6.9 45.0
Q3:21-22 41.9 44.3 13.8 28.2 75.3 22.3 2.4 72.9
Q4:21-22         68.3 28.2 3.5 64.8
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic.
@: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table S2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 43.7 36.3 20.0 23.7 40.5 40.2 19.3 21.2
Q4:20-21 38.1 41.6 20.3 17.7 48.6 41.1 10.3 38.4
Q1:21-22 20.5 39.7 39.7 -19.2 62.3 29.1 8.6 53.7
Q2:21-22 38.8 43.4 17.8 21.0 49.0 42.2 8.8 40.1
Q3:21-22 41.5 41.7 16.8 24.7 75.0 21.4 3.7 71.3
Q4:21-22         67.2 28.6 4.1 63.1
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 24.9 59.8 15.3 9.5 17.0 70.0 13.0 4.0
Q4:20-21 19.6 66.3 14.1 5.6 22.9 69.5 7.5 15.4
Q1:21-22 14.4 64.6 21.0 -6.6 35.2 58.2 6.6 28.7
Q2:21-22 26.5 62.7 10.8 15.6 34.4 61.7 3.9 30.5
Q3:21-22 23.0 65.9 11.2 11.8 55.5 41.9 2.6 52.9
Q4:21-22         49.7 47.9 2.4 47.2
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 10.0 75.7 14.3 -4.3 9.5 77.2 13.3 -3.8
Q4:20-21 16.3 72.1 11.6 4.7 15.0 76.7 8.3 6.6
Q1:21-22 16.8 70.8 12.4 4.3 26.6 66.3 7.1 19.4
Q2:21-22 25.3 70.7 4.0 21.2 43.2 52.7 4.1 39.1
Q3:21-22 22.6 69.9 7.4 15.2 70.3 27.0 2.7 67.6
Q4:21-22         57.5 39.7 2.7 54.8
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Improve No Change Worsen Net response Improve No Change Worsen Net response
Q3:20-21 21.3 68.0 10.7 10.7 17.7 69.9 12.4 5.3
Q4:20-21 31.0 52.7 16.4 14.6 25.5 65.9 8.6 16.9
Q1:21-22 14.2 60.6 25.2 -11.0 47.6 43.9 8.5 39.1
Q2:21-22 28.4 57.6 14.0 14.4 40.5 54.4 5.1 35.5
Q3:21-22 25.6 61.1 13.3 12.4 59.8 37.5 2.6 57.2
Q4:21-22         50.7 45.9 3.4 47.3
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 16.8 70.9 12.3 -4.6 13.5 75.1 11.4 -2.2
Q4:20-21 19.0 65.9 15.1 -3.9 17.0 74.6 8.5 -8.5
Q1:21-22 18.6 65.9 15.5 -3.0 34.1 54.2 11.8 -22.3
Q2:21-22 25.8 66.3 7.9 -17.9 41.2 54.7 4.1 -37.2
Q3:21-22 19.5 73.6 6.9 -12.6 56.0 41.2 2.7 -53.3
Q4:21-22         43.6 54.0 2.4 -41.2
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 23.7 64.5 11.7 -12.0 19.0 71.6 9.5 -9.5
Q4:20-21 24.5 67.3 8.3 -16.2 26.4 67.6 6.0 -20.3
Q1:21-22 16.4 72.1 11.4 -5.0 45.2 51.2 3.6 -41.6
Q2:21-22 29.0 63.6 7.4 -21.7 34.8 62.5 2.8 -32.0
Q3:21-22 24.0 69.2 6.8 -17.2 53.4 44.9 1.7 -51.7
Q4:21-22         49.6 49.3 1.1 -48.5
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 33.2 61.5 5.2 -28.0 30.6 63.1 6.4 -24.2
Q4:20-21 31.4 62.5 6.0 -25.4 34.0 61.1 4.8 -29.2
Q1:21-22 34.6 57.8 7.6 -27.0 46.0 51.1 2.9 -43.2
Q2:21-22 44.4 52.8 2.7 -41.7 47.5 50.2 2.3 -45.2
Q3:21-22 47.5 48.5 4.0 -43.5 69.3 30.3 0.4 -68.8
Q4:21-22         73.1 26.1 0.8 -72.4
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 7.0 76.0 16.9 -9.9 7.8 79.1 13.2 -5.4
Q4:20-21 20.4 62.9 16.7 3.6 11.3 77.7 11.0 0.3
Q1:21-22 19.1 73.0 7.9 11.1 37.5 56.1 6.3 31.2
Q2:21-22 24.2 68.4 7.4 16.8 39.2 58.9 1.9 37.2
Q3:21-22 22.4 68.2 9.4 13.0 62.3 35.6 2.1 60.2
Q4:21-22         54.1 43.1 2.8 51.4
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 19.0 50.8 30.2 -11.1 20.5 52.7 26.8 -6.3
Q4:20-21 20.7 53.1 26.2 -5.6 21.6 58.3 20.2 1.4
Q1:21-22 13.5 53.0 33.5 -20.0 44.5 43.5 12.0 32.5
Q2:21-22 22.4 55.7 21.9 0.6 38.6 51.7 9.7 28.9
Q3:21-22 21.2 58.3 20.5 0.7 55.0 38.8 6.2 48.8
Q4:21-22         46.5 47.0 6.5 40.1
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 17.9 70.2 11.9 6.0 15.9 69.6 14.6 1.3
Q4:20-21 15.0 73.7 11.3 3.6 20.6 71.2 8.3 12.3
Q1:21-22 14.4 73.3 12.3 2.1 29.6 61.9 8.5 21.1
Q2:21-22 25.5 66.4 8.1 17.4 36.0 60.1 3.9 32.0
Q3:21-22 23.5 69.0 7.5 16.0 62.8 34.8 2.4 60.4
Q4:21-22         54.9 41.8 3.4 51.5
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 14.6 81.5 3.9 10.7 14.8 80.1 5.2 9.6
Q4:20-21 25.5 70.5 4.0 21.5 16.8 79.4 3.8 13.1
Q1:21-22 18.6 76.4 4.9 13.7 42.5 55.9 1.6 40.9
Q2:21-22 29.3 69.3 1.4 27.9 44.4 54.0 1.7 42.7
Q3:21-22 23.1 72.5 4.3 18.8 73.7 25.7 0.6 73.2
Q4:21-22         65.1 34.1 0.8 64.3
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 13.2 79.4 7.4 5.7 8.5 84.0 7.5 1.1
Q4:20-21 18.0 76.4 5.6 12.4 14.0 80.8 5.2 8.7
Q1:21-22 14.6 80.2 5.3 9.3 34.7 61.8 3.6 31.1
Q2:21-22 27.6 70.8 1.6 26.0 42.8 55.9 1.3 41.5
Q3:21-22 20.7 74.4 4.9 15.8 68.8 30.7 0.5 68.2
Q4:21-22         61.5 37.4 1.1 60.3
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Infrastructure Sector

Table I1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)@
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Better No Change Worse Net response# Better No Change Worse Net response
Q3:20-21 35.2 45.8 19.0 16.2 34.4 46.1 19.5 14.8
Q4:20-21 42.0 36.4 21.6 20.5 47.1 43.5 9.4 37.7
Q1:21-22 16.7 39.5 43.8 -27.0 70.2 23.8 6.0 64.3
Q2:21-22 35.0 40.8 24.2 10.8 56.6 37.4 6.0 50.5
Q3:21-22 41.9 44.1 14.0 27.9 71.3 26.7 2.1 69.2
Q4:21-22         75.7 19.9 4.4 71.3
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic.
@: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table I2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 29.8 44.0 26.2 3.5 38.1 41.3 20.6 17.5
Q4:20-21 47.7 32.6 19.8 27.9 41.8 48.2 9.9 31.9
Q1:21-22 13.9 41.6 44.5 -30.6 61.2 34.1 4.7 56.5
Q2:21-22 29.6 43.8 26.7 2.9 51.1 41.8 7.1 43.9
Q3:21-22 40.7 46.7 12.6 28.1 67.9 27.5 4.6 63.3
Q4:21-22         73.3 20.0 6.7 66.7
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 7.1 71.6 21.3 -14.2 8.8 74.4 16.8 -8.0
Q4:20-21 11.9 69.0 19.0 -7.1 14.3 74.3 11.4 2.9
Q1:21-22 9.3 64.6 26.1 -16.8 31.3 61.4 7.2 24.1
Q2:21-22 20.4 61.7 17.9 2.5 36.1 59.9 4.0 32.1
Q3:21-22 20.1 72.4 7.5 12.7 50.0 45.8 4.2 45.8
Q4:21-22         54.5 39.6 6.0 48.5
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 8.7 76.8 14.5 -5.8 10.6 76.4 13.0 -2.4
Q4:20-21 15.3 73.6 11.1 4.2 12.6 77.8 9.6 3.0
Q1:21-22 11.0 74.7 14.3 -3.3 23.5 67.6 8.8 14.7
Q2:21-22 23.5 72.5 3.9 19.6 52.5 44.2 3.3 49.2
Q3:21-22 24.5 74.5 1.0 23.5 69.3 28.8 2.0 67.3
Q4:21-22         73.2 24.7 2.1 71.1
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Improve No Change Worsen Net response Improve No Change Worsen Net response
Q3:20-21 18.6 62.1 19.3 -0.7 21.8 58.1 20.2 1.6
Q4:20-21 24.7 57.6 17.6 7.1 23.0 64.0 12.9 10.1
Q1:21-22 10.0 57.9 32.1 -22.1 35.7 53.6 10.7 25.0
Q2:21-22 26.7 52.5 20.8 5.8 44.9 48.5 6.6 38.3
Q3:21-22 27.6 62.7 9.7 17.9 56.1 39.7 4.2 51.9
Q4:21-22         66.4 29.1 4.5 61.9
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 20.3 73.2 6.5 -13.8 27.6 65.9 6.5 -21.1
Q4:20-21 25.0 66.7 8.3 -16.7 24.6 68.1 7.2 -17.4
Q1:21-22 15.9 63.0 21.0 5.1 31.7 67.1 1.2 -30.5
Q2:21-22 23.1 65.5 11.3 -11.8 44.6 51.7 3.7 -41.0
Q3:21-22 24.2 71.9 3.9 -20.3 49.8 47.7 2.6 -47.2
Q4:21-22         59.4 38.3 2.3 -57.0
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 19.3 70.0 10.7 -8.6 23.4 71.0 5.6 -17.7
Q4:20-21 19.0 72.6 8.3 -10.7 22.5 71.7 5.8 -16.7
Q1:21-22 11.5 73.8 14.7 3.2 45.6 48.1 6.3 -39.2
Q2:21-22 23.8 65.8 10.4 -13.3 40.7 56.4 2.9 -37.8
Q3:21-22 22.4 73.9 3.7 -18.7 51.3 46.2 2.5 -48.7
Q4:21-22         59.0 41.0 0.0 -59.0
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 38.2 56.6 5.1 -33.1 44.4 53.8 1.7 -42.7
Q4:20-21 46.1 52.6 1.3 -44.7 42.2 56.3 1.5 -40.7
Q1:21-22 41.9 53.5 4.6 -37.3 47.2 50.0 2.8 -44.4
Q2:21-22 55.9 42.7 1.3 -54.6 62.4 37.6 0.0 -62.4
Q3:21-22 53.8 46.2 0.0 -53.8 76.5 23.0 0.4 -76.1
Q4:21-22         83.1 15.4 1.5 -81.5
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 8.7 75.4 15.9 -7.1 10.9 68.2 20.9 -10.0
Q4:20-21 23.9 56.3 19.7 4.2 15.2 72.8 12.0 3.2
Q1:21-22 12.7 75.6 11.8 0.9 33.3 52.2 14.5 18.8
Q2:21-22 25.8 62.6 11.6 14.1 51.8 46.8 1.4 50.5
Q3:21-22 27.0 67.6 5.4 21.6 59.9 38.1 2.0 57.9
Q4:21-22         66.4 32.7 0.9 65.5
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 11.3 53.9 34.8 -23.4 17.4 47.9 34.7 -17.4
Q4:20-21 18.5 51.9 29.6 -11.1 21.0 54.3 24.6 -3.6
Q1:21-22 8.6 52.0 39.4 -30.8 39.2 44.3 16.5 22.8
Q2:21-22 19.2 51.9 28.9 -9.6 42.3 50.0 7.7 34.7
Q3:21-22 26.5 52.9 20.6 5.9 49.8 43.5 6.7 43.1
Q4:21-22         57.4 33.1 9.6 47.8
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 12.9 75.0 12.1 0.8 18.0 69.7 12.3 5.7
Q4:20-21 28.9 60.5 10.5 18.4 16.8 73.3 9.9 6.9
Q1:21-22 10.9 79.2 10.0 0.9 33.8 59.2 7.0 26.8
Q2:21-22 25.1 66.1 8.7 16.4 45.2 52.1 2.8 42.4
Q3:21-22 26.3 69.3 4.4 21.9 58.6 36.5 5.0 53.6
Q4:21-22         64.9 31.6 3.5 61.4
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 9.2 83.3 7.5 1.7 9.5 82.9 7.6 1.9
Q4:20-21 20.6 69.8 9.5 11.1 10.0 85.0 5.0 5.0
Q1:21-22 12.1 81.9 6.0 6.0 28.6 64.3 7.1 21.4
Q2:21-22 29.6 66.7 3.7 25.9 70.3 29.1 0.7 69.6
Q3:21-22 27.5 71.4 1.1 26.4 82.1 16.4 1.5 80.6
Q4:21-22         76.7 22.2 1.1 75.6
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:20-21 9.4 82.1 8.5 0.9 17.6 72.5 9.8 7.8
Q4:20-21 14.3 79.4 6.3 7.9 14.8 77.4 7.8 7.0
Q1:21-22 15.9 79.0 5.1 10.8 29.0 66.1 4.8 24.2
Q2:21-22 28.5 68.8 2.8 25.7 68.8 31.2 0.0 68.8
Q3:21-22 30.1 68.8 1.1 29.0 73.6 23.6 2.8 70.8
Q4:21-22         77.4 20.4 2.2 75.3
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

1 The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on October 08, 2021. This round of the survey was launched on October 22, 2021 and results were compiled with data received till December 31, 2021.

2 Net Response (NR) is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimism. It ranges between -100 to 100. Positive value indicates expansion/optimism and negative value indicates contraction/pessimism. In other words, NR = (I – D); where, I is the percentage response of ‘Increase/optimism’, D is the percentage response of ‘Decrease/pessimism’ and E is the percentage response as ‘no change/ equal’ (i.e., I+D+E=100). For example, increase in turnover is optimism whereas decrease in cost of inputs is optimism.

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