New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Business confidence in India has improved and a majority of companies across the country expect the economic growth to be more than 7 percent, reveals a survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"Business Confidence Index for April-September 2010-11 improved by 1.5 points to 67.6 as compared to a 7.4 point increase during the second half of 2009-10," said the survey.

The survey, based on a large sample of 458 companies, revealed that a majority of 60 percent of the respondents expect gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the year 2010-11 to range between 7.5-8.5 percent. And 28 percent expect it to be in the range of 8-8.5 percent.

About 90 percent of the respondents expect inflation to be above 5 percent in 2010-11, while 26 percent expect it to be above 8 percent.

"With headline inflation nearing double digits, inflation is mentioned as one of the top concerns for the business community," said the survey statement.

According to 79 percent of the respondents, production is expected to increase in the next six months.

The increase in production is likely because of expected increase in new orders. About 81 percent of the respondents expect new orders to go up in the next six months, compared to about 62 percent who revealed that new orders had increased in the second half of 2009-10.

Companies will also look at investing more during the fiscal as the survey found that 73 percent of the respondents plan to increase investments in the coming six months.

On exports, 66 percent of the respondents expressed confidence that exports would increase in the next six months. However, procedural delays continue to bog exporters with 91 percent of the respondents saying that the delays have not reduced.