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Swedish companies are upbeat about India and plan to increase their investments three fold in next two years, a survey conducted by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India (SCCI) showed.
For the period 2009-11, the value of the capital investments made by Swedish companies exceeded 1 billion Swedish krona ($145 million). The planned investments for 2011-13 is expected to nearly triple at 2.7 billion Swedish Krona (about $400 million), according to the findings of the fourth Business Climate Survey 2011, which was released here today.
The latest survey, which sought to cover 137 Swedish companies operating in India, showed that India is a very important market for Swedish companies and that they are looking at more of India whether it be for trading or capital investments, said Mr Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden to India.
The positive results of the Business Climate Survey reiterates how positive Swedish companies are about India, he added. The Survey has found that business climate in India has improved during 2010 and that India is a profitable market.
The Business Climate survey is conducted annually by the SCCI together with the Swedish Trade Council and the Embassy of Sweden. It is an attempt to understand the confidence of Swedish companies in India. It also helps understand what the obstacles are and how they can be reduced.
On the recent reports that the new FDI policy on retail may not be implemented in the wake of protest by Opposition parties, Mr Lindgren noted that no official statement has been issued by the Indian Government to the effect that the new policy has been put on hold or the decision has been rolled back.
“All that I can say is that some Swedish companies in single brand retail are very eager to open retail stores in India. They would source even more from India if they were allowed to establish presence here,” he said when asked to comment on the Government's last month decision to allow foreign companies to take majority stake in supermarkets.
The number of Swedish companies has almost doubled in India over the last five years, even though there has been a steady inflow during the period from 1996 to 2005, according to Mr Anders Malmstrom, Sweden's Trade Commissioner to India and Head of the Swedish Trade Council.
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