Unfazed by challenges posed by pandemic, Swedish firms to double investment in India over next 2 years: Survey

Unfazed by the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Swedish companies intend to double their investment in the next two years in India, according to the 13th Business Climate Survey (BCS).

The BCS, titled 'Towards Sustainable Growth', is conducted annually since 2008 by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce India (SCCI), along with the Embassy of Sweden in India, the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai and Business Sweden.

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It attempts to understand the "confidence of Swedish companies in India, to identify the obstacles and how they can be reduced".

"In the past five years (2015-20), companies report that they have invested in total USD 2 billion in India. In the coming two years (2021 and 2022), Swedish companies report that they will invest close to USD 1 billion in India," according to the survey report, underscoring Swedish companies' intent to double the investments over the next two years.

This year, the questionnaire was sent to 210 Swedish companies established in India. Out of these, 190 responded, rendering a response rate of 90 per cent.

According to the survey's findings, in the coming year, "80 per cent of the companies project their revenues to increase significantly (34 per cent) or slightly (46 per cent)".

"This has starkly changed when compared with our interim survey in May 2020, where only 28 per cent of respondents projected their revenues would increase over the coming 12 months," it noted.

Besides assessing the level of green transition and innovation ecosystem in the country, the survey also takes into account the increase in job opportunities and representation of women in the workforce in India as one of the "key factors" influencing business dealings between the two nations.

"Sweden and India's bilateral cooperation has grown even stronger despite the pandemic, and Swedish companies have repeatedly shown that they have a long-term commitment to India.

"I am therefore particularly proud that the 2021-22 Business Climate Survey (BCS) has received such a high response rate and that it highlights important areas such as green transition and women in the workforce," said Anna Hallberg, Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs as quoted in a statement.

There are currently over 220 Swedish companies in India active in several different business sectors, including industrial equipment, IT and electronics, healthcare medtech and pharma, business services, and retail consumer goods and services.

Together, these employ over two lakh directly and another 2.2 million indirectly.