Indian service sector companies are the most confident lot among the BRIC nations, with 60 per cent of them expecting increased business activity in the coming year, reveals a survey.

About 60 per cent of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations anticipate a rise in business activity whereas only two per cent expect a decline.

These are the findings of the latest Business Outlook Survey conducted in April by advisory firm KPMG.

"Service providers are confident that revenues will rise over the coming year . . . Higher new orders, improving market conditions and the introduction of new products were cited as the main factors likely to support growth of revenues," the report said.

Among the service providers, financial intermediation firms were most optimistic of higher business activities.

About 58 per cent of companies surveyed believe that BRIC service providers would see growth in volumes of new businesses.

Indian service companies are also the most optimistic regarding profits and the company profitability in the region is expected to increase strongly over the next year.

"Higher workloads are predicted to support a robust pace of job creation across the BRIC nations. Around 37 per cent of service providers anticipate growth of employment, with Russian and Indian firms the most upbeat," the report said.  

However, more than half of the service providers in the region expect operating costs to rise in the next twelve months mainly due to higher raw material prices, staff salaries and outsourcing costs.

In response, the firms are set to raise their own charges, the report added.