India Inc is on the cusp of a broad-based cyclical recovery. Corporates have used the lean years imaginatively, paring costs to the bone, revamping their inventory, receivables and logistics management, shedding unprofitable businesses and consolidating. Balance sheets have been cleaned up and debt burdens reduced. All the hard work has finally paid off, and the Indian corporate sector is now reaping its benefits. 
The rewards of restructuring are finally filtering down to shareholders. This issue of BS 1000 captures this great turnaround in the Indian corporate sector, not only documenting the recovery and tracing its origins but also looking forward to the future. 

Corporate India’s plans for adding capacity have been detailed, along with its sectoral distribution. We examine which sectors continue to have excess capacity and the areas in which capacity addition is imperative. 

What’s more, these macro themes are then taken down to the corporate level and a close-up, in-depth study of productivity improvements in several companies has been done to take the reader through what restructuring means at the micro level. To convey a sense of how corporate India has changed and the changes likely in the months ahead, we bring you CEOspeak – what chief executives have to say about the business environment and India’s prospects. Nor is the market left out – we talk to fund managers and analysts to check their views on the prospects for Indian corporates.

We also take this opportunity of announcing the BS CEO of the Year aware, which goes to Ratan Tata for scripting the turnaround at several companies in the Tata group and his efforts to expand its global presence.

Of course, we also have all the usual BS 1000 features – the rankings of companies and the details of which company has slid down the greasy pole of success and which companies have been able to climb up a few notches.

But it is important to note that the backdrop to corporate performance at present is an extraordinary sense of confidence and well-being. Profits are rising and so is the stock market, individual wealth is increasing, people are spending more, and both Indian companies and India as an investment destination are finally making a mark globally. 

The world is beating a path to India. A few issues stand out against this backdrop. These include hot sectors in terms of investment, growth and M&A activity – such as pharmaceuticals, retailing, telecom, automobiles, biotechnology and oil. We examine the roots of Indian competitiveness and whether they will be affected by the rise of the rupee. And finally, no survey of corporate India can be complete without a reference to the BPO boom and its ramifications.

In the years to come, when we look back at the present time, it’s very probable that the corporate historian would exclaim: “This was when Indian companies finally learnt to stand up and be counted in the world markets.” Our aim is to capture this exciting moment in history.