Almost two-thirds (61%) of executive-level managers working for U.S. companies said that they would prefer to get materials from India rather than China if the two countries manufactured the same products, based on a recent survey from the U.K. market research firm OnePoll.
According to CNBC, 56% of the survey participants said that they wanted India to fulfill their supply chain needs over the next five years rather than China.
The survey also showed that 59% of U.S. businesses said that they found it either “somewhat risky” or “very risky” to source materials from China, compared to just 39% for India.
At least 25% of the executives who took part in the study said they do not currently import materials from either India or China.
“Companies are seeing India as a long-term investment strategy as opposed to a short-term pivot to avoid tariffs,” said Samir Kapadia, the CEO of India Index, in an exclusive interview with CNBC. “The U.S. and China continue to sit in rather chilling air. Whereas there is a constant stream of iterations, conversations, dialogues and agreements between U.S. and India.”
U.S. companies are not completely sold on India’s supply chain capabilities, with 55% of respondents saying they believed quality assurance was a “medium risk” they would have to take on by sourcing materials from Indian factories. Delivery risk and IP theft were two other points of concern amongst U.S. businesses looking into India.
Five hundred executive-level managers based in the U.S. took part in the survey conducted by OnePoll and India Index in December 2023.
