Many have the impression that business in India equates to outsourcing and American job loss. Call centers and computer programmers continue to be the topic of most media coverage, but this is only a part of global business dealings in India. Western companies successfully sell products and services, but don’t receive the same press coverage. GE for instance had $3 billion in sales in 2006 and has a goal of $8 billion by 2010.
Manufacturing
The industrial world has not seen India as a manufacturing powerhouse a decade ago, but times have changed. India has quickly become one of the world’s top destinations for manufacturing through a number of remarkable accomplishments.
Defense
The Indian army is the largest army in the world that is primarily dependant on imported equipment. Most of this equipment has been purchased historically from the former Soviet Union and European companies. The US and India have become closer allies in recent years, are joined in fighting a common enemy, and India has broadened its sourcing plans. These elements combine to make this a huge new opening for western defense contractor
Infrastructure
India’s infrastructure may resemble the nineteenth century. A growing population and booming economy are placing even more stress on the outdated systems. India is investing heavily in upgrading their infrastructure and thus provides an excellent opportunity for savvy western businesses.
Consumer Goods
A growing population, rising per-capita income, and expanding middle class have created a ‘perfect storm’ of increasing demand for almost every type of consumer product or service imaginable. Whats more, is that Indian’s have a love of all things western and are strongly influenced by western media.
Knowledge-based Services
Many western businesses have already capitalized by offshoring labor to be performed in India. There is more benefit to looking overseas however than labor arbitrage. In fact, the initial impetus for the information technology outsourcing rose from a shortage of programmers to deal with the Y2K issue. The cost savings was a pleasant side-effect. Really smart companies look deeper, finding competitive advantage in many other forms when offshoring.
Real Estate
Construction, building sales, and tenancy practices are all at world levels in India. Land acquisition however continues to be a hazy process. For now, foreign investors are limited in investments, though several large deals have occurred recently. Real estate can turn into a much larger opportunity for western firms should the Indian government relax some regulations.
Training and Education
More foreign students in the USA are from India – a strong indicator of the attractiveness of American education brands and the Indian spending power. Foreign universities have very limited access in India currently, but the limitations on availability of education hold back millions of young Indians and the ecosystem of foreign participation is changing, culminating in a huge opportunity.
Entertainment
One of the strongest engines of North American economy, the entertainment industry is seeking to counteract rising production costs with creative uses of global resources. Animation and digital services for movie and television production are being performed at offshore locations and Video Games businesses are utilizing the vast talent pool of programmers, designers, and gamers that exist offshore.
We hope that our Doing Business in India Guide will help answer some of the routine questions we get asked. Please Contact Us if you need more in-depth assistance when looking to do business with India. We’ll be glad to help.
