First signals from the Fed last May that it would begin to scale back - or "taper" - its extraordinary economic stimulus measures prompted many investors to pull funds out of emerging markets seen as risky, hitting asset values.

Mr Chidambaram predicted that the likely outcome of the national election, due by May, was that no party will have a clear majority.

Besides, CEOs from across the world including in India plan to aggressively expand their workforce this year, even as their worries about over-regulation, fiscal deficits and tax policy have reached highest ever levels, the PwC survey said.