New Delhi, Jul 20 (IANS): The overall business sentiment in India improved during the April-June quarter of the current financial year with a significant number of firms expecting to step up hiring in the next six months, according to the latest National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER)-NSE survey.

The share of firms expecting overall economic conditions to improve in the next six months increased from 65.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY2022-23 to 71.2 per cent in the first quarter of FY2024-25.

Around 32 per cent of the firms surveyed said they plan to increase hiring of managerial and skilled workers over the next six months as against 30.6 per cent firms in the January-March period of FY 2023-24.

“Firms’ perception about the improvement in their own financial position is particularly noteworthy as the share of such firms was 67 per cent, the highest since Q3 of 2010-11 at 76 per cent,” said NCAER’s Bornali Bhandari, who led the survey.

The sentiments on external trade, both exports of final products and imports of raw materials improved with a large share of firms expecting them to increase. A majority of firms expect no changes in the unit costs of electricity and labour in the next six months, signalling that costs will remain muted.

The survey was carried out in June, covering 497 firms spread across six cities, covering all four regions of the country to find out their assessment of the present climate, capacity utilisation, financial conditions, and economic assessment over the next six months. It covered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME s) as well as large firms.