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India Inc has maintained a constructive outlook for FY27 despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and commodity price volatility, with sectors such as telecom, defence, metals, building materials, power, banking and consumption expected to remain key growth drivers, according to an ICICI Securities post-conference note released after its India Investor Conference 2026.
The brokerage said corporate managements largely remained confident about demand trends and capital expenditure plans, while indicating that the impact of higher crude oil-linked input costs could be mitigated through cost savings initiatives and phased price increases. "For Q4FY26, NSE500 universe profit growth was ~12%, driven by broader markets," the report noted, adding that participating companies "have not raised any material red flags on the demand and capex outlook for FY27 due to the Gulf war" and have "exuded confidence that crude oil-related input price escalation will likely be managed via cost savings and passing on to end consumers in phases." According to ICICI Securities, recent macroeconomic developments have further strengthened business confidence. These include stronger-than-expected GDP growth, measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India to attract foreign debt inflows, a current account surplus supported by services exports and remittances, and moderation in crude oil prices. Among sectors, telecom emerged as a major beneficiary of the rapid expansion in artificial intelligence-related infrastructure. The report highlighted a "robust demand outlook for Telecom core connectivity driven by a surge in data centres catering to increased AI usage." Defence manufacturing is also expected to sustain its momentum, backed by healthy order pipelines and continued investments to expand production capacities. said, "Defence manufacturing to continue its strong run along with continued capex to enhance capacity." The power and capital goods ecosystem remains one of the strongest investment themes, with companies pointing to a favourable outlook across generation, transmission and distribution networks. The report said, "Capital goods and Utilities - strong power sector capex outlook across generation, transmission and distribution. New-age sectors such as data centre and semiconductor manufacturing to boost demand." In the banking sector, lenders indicated that credit growth should remain resilient despite the ongoing West Asia conflict. The report noted that "Banks - credit growth likely to sustain. West Asia crisis unlikely to have any material impact. FCNR-B mobilisation to boost deposit growth." Consumer-focused sectors also presented a positive picture, with companies increasingly relying on premiumisation strategies and discretionary spending trends to drive growth. "Premiumisation and discretionary consumption likely to drive growth," the report said, while adding that companies are mitigating raw material inflation through efficiency measures and calibrated price hikes. The hospitality and real estate sectors are witnessing an improving demand environment as well. ICICI Securities observed a gradual recovery in the first quarter of FY27, supported by foreign tourist arrivals, continued hotel capacity additions and healthy residential project launches. Overall, the conference reflected broad-based optimism across corporate India, with companies continuing to pursue expansion plans while remaining watchful of geopolitical and commodity-related risks. (ANI)
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