Only recently I wrote about corporate India’s earnings for the June quarter of FY27 which were reasonably good, although one must point out that the effects of the Iran war hadn’t fully been felt in the June quarter. Now, it’s time for us to look forward to the September quarter of FY27, which will probably reflect the impact of both the wars better and we could soon see many Indian companies raising prices because commodity and input costs have gone up significantly. The only silver lining could be the great Indian festive season which begins in August and carries on until New Year’s, along with big fat Indian weddings! This is usually when companies do blockbuster sales, from automobiles and consumer electronics to packaged consumer goods, fashion and jewellery.
That said, it is going to be challenging times for Indian businesses, as it will be for businesses around the world too, who are all going to be faced with commodity price increases, supply chain issues, higher energy costs, transport and trade costs soaring, etc. Many companies will probably start raising prices, as some Indian carmakers already have, and so have a few CPG companies. I think it strange that with Brent at close to US$ 110 per barrel, the Indian government hasn’t found it necessary to raise fuel prices once again, as many other countries in Asia already have. And with CPI coming in higher month after month, it’s also perhaps time for the RBI to raise interest rates. At the moment, they are busy with removing the excess liquidity in the banking system thanks to the FCNR(B) deposits that they announced to attract more foreign capital into India. But the time has come to start tackling inflation and to also address the slowing growth that might follow later.
I think it is also time for India Inc to start flexing its muscles in terms of improving business investment in the country and creating more capacity as well as jobs. And perhaps, this is a good time as any to also think about Brand India Inc. I have written before on my blog about so many Indian companies expanding their operations and going global, including in the context of building Brand India. Yet, we rarely ever get to read or hear about how their overseas operations are faring, and how they are managing to build Brand India, if they are at all. Quite in contrast to Chinese companies that are taking the world by storm largely thanks to overcapacity back home. This is on the export front, but even besides this Chinese companies are investing overseas and the media is full of stories about how their companies and brands are outcompeting everyone out of many markets. I think both Indian companies as well as the media – Indian and international – are responsible for this lacuna in reporting and they ought to step up efforts in not only building their brands and businesses but in communicating adequately as well.
The strange thing is that nobody internationally sees India as competition or our companies as competition, the way they do the Chinese. And yet, many Indian companies expanded globally much before the Chinese did. There were periods in the past when the western world particularly saw the Japanese and the Koreans as competition, and they were indeed formidable competitors especially in automobiles and consumer electronics.
In India, our competitive advantages lie mainly in information technology and pharmaceuticals, as I have been writing. I have also written that we need to build on these, especially in the age of AI, and create new areas of competitive advantage for ourselves. I think that we have overlooked biotech – both in food production as well as in medicine – an area that is going to grow exponentially in the decades ahead as the world grapples with increasing agricultural production in the face of climate change and as medicine and healthcare increasingly look to digital technology for answers. Apparently, China is making huge investments in this field and I think I mentioned this in a blog post about China reuniting better with Hong Kong: the vast Greater Hong Kong Bay Area that is under development envisages large investments in biotech along with digital technology.
Then, there are other areas we could look at: renewables and clean energy, textiles (as distinct from apparel), consumer electronics, automobiles, and more. India Inc could also do more to build Brand India in consumer goods, from our tea and coffee to fashion, watches and jewellery, hotels, etc. Then, why shouldn’t Indian financial firms also be competing better with international banks and other institutions. This is still a highly regulated and protected industry in India, but I think the Indian government ought to look at taking Indian banks and insurance companies international in the foreseeable future. At a time when India is tom-tomming its digital public infrastructure and its payment systems – a lot of which is to cover for unprofessional PR agency idiot bosses’ mischief – which we are trying to get other G-20 countries to adopt, we should also be open to international competition in the finance industry both at home and overseas. Of course, we must proceed with caution and have enough safeguards in place, since a shock in the international finance markets can roil through our economy as well. Defence and space are new areas as well in which India has stepped up investment along with the private sector and partnering with foreign firms as well.
These are industry-specific issues and areas of competitive advantage for countries are also very much the areas of competitive advantage for businesses. I am thinking of Michael E Porter’s work on competitive advantage – including that of nations – as well as CK Prahlad’s and Gary Hamel’s work on core competencies. We usually think that these have to always be confined to trade and to tradeable goods, and while this might be true to some extent, we also need to start competing better in our own home market first. If the recent FTAs signed with UK, EU and so many other countries come to fruition, it ought to be the biggest impetus to innovation in our own country. Corporate India will have to innovate and produce products and brands that can hold their own in India and of course, also compete better in the international marketplace. However, it doesn’t have to wait for this, for innovation to begin in India Inc. In the World Competitiveness Rankings 2026 of IMD, India ranks 44 among 70 economies around the world, and our country has fallen three places from 2025. Worse, the fall has been sharpest in business efficiency – by as much as 12 places – as you can see and this despite India doing well in terms of economic growth.
There may be many ways to think about how India Inc ought to build their brands within their specific industries, and I would like to share my thinking in this piece. To start with, companies in India must start considering competition both at home and in their key international markets, when formulating strategy. Most Indian companies that have international operations would be confronted with quite different markets across geographies. Depending upon what products are being sold in these international markets, companies’ senior leadership must consider the most important of these markets and the competitive scenario there, while thinking of business and marketing strategy.
Second, the needs of customers across markets are likely to be quite different, so here again it’s important to consider customers’ requirements in the most important and key markets – home and overseas. I assume that most of India Inc that has expanded globally has taken the inorganic route to growth, which is to acquire businesses overseas. How many of them have also taken Indian products and brands global is the question and how these are faring in international markets is critical to Brand India Inc.
Third, investing in R&D and innovation is a must for Indian companies to become and stay competitive. We don’t do enough of this in our home market, so I doubt any great innovation is happening at the overseas operations. India Inc has to begin with R&D at home and build innovation capacity and intellectual property, that can be taken to global markets. And here again, the objective of the research and innovation must be to serve the needs of important markets – India and critical ones overseas.
This brings me to the next aspect which is about commercialising the innovation and turning it into tangible and intangible intellectual assets, both at the product level and at the brand level. Companies’ core competencies and differentiated offerings must be capable of being converted into marketable brands and ideas. This and R&D are where western firms have traditionally excelled, because they have been at it for longer. They also understand the importance of brands better than most others, simply because they invented it decades and even centuries ago, and have been practising it ever since.
From all that I have read and seen in my long experience in the advertising industry in India, I think that East Asian companies are great at product innovation, but not nearly as good at commercialising and marketing it. And Indian companies haven’t even got started yet on real and solid R&D and innovation that can compete with the best in the world. India Inc has a lot of catching up to do, both in terms of covering more ground and making up for lost time.
There is already so much competition between US and China especially in technology and AI, that I do not wish this to be seen as yet another race with China, when I cite the example of Chinese brands. But I cannot stress enough how much headway China and Chinese products and brands have made in just the past decade, or less.
First of all, with competing at home in their own market, the Chinese have not just caught up with western brands, they are being preferred to international brands across categories, according to Kantar. Their economic liberalization strategy of inviting foreign businesses to set up joint ventures with local partners along with transfer of technology has paid rich dividends. It means that local Chinese firms didn’t have to reinvent anything to begin with, and once they had that technological headstart or advantage, they surged ahead and, more importantly, also developed the capacity to innovate on their own. Today, Chinese brands are not cheap knock-offs of foreign products; they are original, innovative products and brands in their own right. And they’re giving the likes of Apple, Nike, Starbucks and more a headache and a run for their money. Ditto, with EVs which is what the whole world is talking about. But, how about sports goods? I was amazed when I read that a couple of Chinese sportswear brands that I had never heard of, are giving Adidas, Nike and Reebok a tough time; these are Li Ning and Anta and you can read about them here.
This is broad-based innovation taking place in China across product categories and industries, not merely in AI, robotics and EVs. Now, when you look at global markets, the Chinese are everywhere. Not only through exports and trade with the west, but through Chinese businesses also taking their firms global and setting up international operations. It is true that most Chinese businesses are recipients of huge state subsidies, something that western economies such as the US and the EU have been fighting against. And when it comes to R&D spends on innovation, China is closing the gap with the US, the world’s biggest spender in this area. According to this Reuters piece, OECD have found that government subsidies to industry globally have risen and this is led by China; moreover, they find that these subsidies contribute to market share increases to the extent of 60%. In my opinion, Chinese brands are not yet brands in the real sense, but they have already begun their journey. And if they can maintain consistency and momentum, they will be recognized and preferred as brands before long.
Returning to what India Inc can do to build Brand India, the fifth and last factor is communication. India Inc must do a better job of communicating its corporate and product strengths, its recent innovations and how the companies are performing internationally. What’s more, brand-building itself requires communication to play an active role through advertising and brand communications, which companies need to invest in. And they have to invest in brand communications not just in India but in the important overseas markets as well, and these have to be based on the same brand strategy so that they are in sync across markets.
In the context of the recent imbroglio at Tata Sons and differences between the company board and the Tata Trusts who have the controlling share of the holding company at 66%, I had shared a post with my thoughts on LinkedIn a few days ago. On thinking further on the subject, I was wondering whether it is possible to build a differentiated and unique model for large Indian family-owned, or family trust-owned companies, whereby they can maintain their controlling interest and at the same time use some of the profits of the holding company for charitable purposes.
Right now, most large Indian companies have set up foundations for their charitable work. Alongside, India Inc could also have a structure and governance model whereby the charity work is done by the promoters or controlling shareholders themselves. I am not a lawyer or a finance professional, but I think this might call for special classes of shares with greater voting rights to be introduced – the way it is in the US and some western countries – through which the firm’s promoters exercise better control over how the profits of the company are to be used. In the case of Tata Sons, for example, for charity work.
This must be discussed between the government, India Inc, RBI, SEBI and other authorities concerned before introduction. And it may be decided that the disclosure and reporting standards required in such cases are set much higher, so that the charity work is also included in the annual financial reporting. This is just an idea that occurred to me, one that might also help to create a unique brand of large Indian firms and conglomerates.
To conclude, I would say that Indian companies that have international operations must start thinking and behaving like a multinational company. This comes with years and decades of dealing with multiple products and brands across geographies, cultures, consumers, and competition. Indian companies that are not yet international need to start investing in R&D and innovation anyway, in order to compete better in the home market with international brands. Once they manage this challenging phase, they can pursue international markets both through the organic and inorganic route; in both cases, however, these Indian firms will have to find ways to take their Indian products and brands global.
India Inc has no time to lose. Get your innovation engines going and produce products and brands that can compete with the finest in the world.
The featured image at the start of this post is of the World Trade Centre, at Kharadi in Pune by Swapnil Potdar on Unsplash
