8216;India Inc8217;s Q4 profit under pressure8217;

8220;Intense competition is limiting the pricing power of corporates,and players are being forced to largely absorb the rise in input costs,8221; Nagarajan Narasimhan,director,Crisil Research,said in a note. 8220;The rising interest rates will also impact net margins.8221;

Crisil said it expects operating profit margin to decline to about 22-23 per cent during the fourth quarter from 26.1 per cent in the same period last year.

Rising input costs are likely to pressure margins of automobile manufacturers and cement makers. Software services firms are also likely to see margins crimping due to the rupee8217;s appreciation and wage inflation,Crisil forecast.

However,margins for steel players are likely to improve as strong demand offsets the impact of rising input costs,while margins for yarn manufacturers are also likely to be stable as companies increase product prices,passing on the input cost increases rise to consumers.