India

Why India?

India is one of the fastest expanding economies in the world, with a rapidly expanding consumer base – more than half the population are under 25 - and economic growth forecast at 7% this year.

Improvements in infrastructure are encouraging foreign companies to look beyond Mumbai and Delhi to the huge opportunities in India’s emerging cities. 

Economic liberalisation continues to progress, with trade barriers being removed and privatisation programmes gradually reducing the role of the public sector in the production and consumption of goods. 

There is strong awareness of the UK’s best research, innovation and education. British businesses are seen as easy to deal with and more open than most in sharing technology.

Key sectors of opportunity

Automotive - The industry has witnessed an unprecedented boom in recent years, owing to the improvement in living standards of the middle class and a significant increase in their disposable income.

Biotechnology - An Ernst & Young survey has recognised India as one of the world’s emerging biotech leaders, ranking it third in the Asia-Pacific region based on the number of Indian companies active in the sector.

Financial Services - India’s investable wealth is forecast to increase four-fold from 2007 to 2012, from US$250 billion to US$1 trillion. Its wealth management segment is forecast to rise from 13 million to 42 million households over the same period. 

ICT Industry - Growing faster than anywhere else in the world and the country is expected to become the second-largest telecoms market globally this year. By 2012 it is forecast that there will be 560 million mobile phone users.

Media and Entertainment - One of the fastest growing industries in the country thanks to a booming economy, growth-encouraging measures undertaken by the government and rising income levels. The size of the Indian creative and media sector is estimated to be well above £9 billion in 2010 (INR 652 billion) and is growing at a rate of 13% per annum (FICC-KPMG report 2011).

Oil and Gas - India is the world’s fifth-largest energy consumer and its oil and gas industry contributes about 45% of the country’s total energy consumption.

Pharmaceuticals industry - Ranks fourth in terms of volume globally, with an 8% share in worldwide sales.

Semiconductors - India has become a player to reckon with in the international semiconductor market. It is already a preferred destination for chip designing and embedded software and is now taking up manufacturing of semiconductors for the domestic as well as global markets.

Infrastructure - Represents one of the biggest opportunities as India plans to spend US$ 1 trillion in the next five years on a wide range of projects including ports, airports, roads, power, water and other urban infrastructure.