By Daksesh Parikh. Executive Editor, Business India

The end of the year means different things to different people. Some are just happy to see a year consigned to history and revel in ushering in the new year. Some just view it as a mini-vacation, time to replenish one’s energies and get set for the onslaught of the new year. Very few, except companies who follow the calendar year as their fiscal year, look at the year minutely, check their performance during the year and get on the drawing board to see how they can improve in the new year. Rarely do people ponder over the year, do some introspection and see how and what went wrong/right during the period.

If a dip stick poll were to be conducted amongst different segments of people, there would be a broad consensus that 2021 was a recovery year. The disastrous pandemic year of 2020 was marked by frequent lockdowns, mass migration of labourers and poor showing by the corporate sector. Demand was muted for the better part of the year. Production was low and fear ruled the roost. Against this gloomy scenario 2021 held better chances of recovery. The midcourse correction due to the swift rise of the pandemic again (second wave) did dampen sentiments.

The floods in various parts around the globe, the forest fires, and cyclones only sought to strengthen this belief about the frailty of human beings against the might of nature. Globally, more than 3.3 million deaths were recorded in 2021 due to the prevalence of Covid-19. One can throw statistics to show one country was better insofar as the deaths as a percentage of the total population in that country were a few basis point lower and there were a few more recoveries. However, such arguments sound hollow as value cannot be placed on life itself; it is priceless. 

Indian companies did shine in the pandemic as many leading houses and even smaller listed or unlisted companies did their mite in helping the government to mitigate some of the bigger challenges. Their actions, be they helping to build hospitals or ferrying people by ambulance, providing food and medicines and diverting industrial oxygen to meet the paucity of oxygen supplies in hospitals, were proof that India Inc has its heart in the right place.

While the sentiments amongst the people of India were subdued, the sharp rebound seen in the recovery of various sectors was amazing. Particularly, in the second half of the calendar year. Aided by the China plus 1 policy, lower interest rates and abundant liquidity sloshing across the globe, many companies were able to benefit from heightened demand and the elevated prices of several commodities particularly metals like steel, aluminium, copper, zinc and even non-metals like cement and coal. 

The only blotch on the economy was witnessed on the agriculture front with mass agitations greeting the government’s announcement to usher in reforms in the sector. Banking and Non-Banking Finance which were reeling under NPAs, used the pandemic year of 2020 and 2021 to write off a part of the NPA and bring in better practices for evaluating risks.