What is the right time to enter a new market?   There are advantages and disadvantages for both first movers and late entrants. India presents many opportunities in various sectors and is now one of fastest growing economies in the world.

In the following paragraphs we have identified parameters that are on the right track and make India a compelling business case.

According to BCG (Boston Consulting Group), India will become the third largest consumer economy by 2025. Consumption is set to triple to $4 trillion by 2025. Rising affluence is the biggest driver of the country’s increasing consumption.

This robust consumption growth offers attractive opportunities for foreign companies succeeding to manage India’s challenging diversity and variety.It is a matter of understanding your customer’s buying preference in each segment.

About 40% of India’s population will be living in urban areas by 2025 and people living in cities will account for more than 60% of India’s consumption.  In terms of consumption expenditures, emerging cities (those with populations of less than 1 million) will be the fastest growing. 

By 2025 some 120 cities will have matched today’s major metropolitan areas in average household income.

Good connectivity to these smaller cities is important to guarantee a fast, reliable and timely supply chain, especially for products with a short shelf life.

In the next 5 years, India plans to build 83.677 km of roads and the Indian Railways have already sanctioned 12.500 km of train track doubling work in the last two and a half years. 

For FY18 they plan 3.500 km track laying and 4.000 km track electrification.

The introduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST) ensures now faster and efficient movement of products. It creates a single market across States by replacing a complicated, costly and time-consuming indirect taxation regime.

GST aims to make transport of goods faster and simpler.

India has jumped 30 places on the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking (from 130 to 100) in one year.India has joined the top 100 nations club in terms of business friendliness, as perceived by the World Bank.

Indians preferred to buy from their local “mom and pop” shop.With state-of the-art shopping malls in the metros, the Indian affluent consumer started to appreciate the organized retail sector for its needs.

The size of organized retail in India is expected to double to US$ 25.7 billion in the next 3 years.

Digital channels will influence 30% to 35% of all retail sales by 2025 and 8% to 10% of retail spending will be online.

India is expected to become the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market, driven by robust investment in the sector and rapid increase in the number of internet users.  Revenue generated from online retail is projected to grow to US$ 60 billion by 2020.

The number of mobile internet users in India was estimated to reach 450 million by 2017.

Even with conservative GDP growth of 6% to 7% a year, India is still a growth story.

The Indian economy is going to be among the top 3 economies in the world after US and China.

With all these positive signs, a sustained growth and an increasing consumer spending, we feel that you can’t ignore India anymore.

In the long run simply exporting to India won’t be enough. You will need to make your product in India, adopt it to the local tastes and preferences and position it at the sharpest price possible.

The right time to enter India is now!