Month: May 2026

Which Indian states should you focus on for trade?

Choosing your best points of entry to India is one of your biggest decisions.

INTO INDIA has always advised that it is almost foolhardy to regard India as “1.4 billion customers” all in the one market, waiting eagerly for your product or service. Going there often enough, you will discover that far from being a single market, India is a “country of countries” – many differences, many cultures.

The biggest differences occur from state to state. India has 36 states and territories

Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a uniquely high-profile Prime Minister, it is the states who exercise a lot of the power.

States make key policy decisions in infrastructure development, land and labour, healthcare and transport, licensing and permitting. On top of this there are layer upon layer of cultural differences from region to region. It’s complicated.

The “big 6 states” with the highest GDP are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and West Bengal. But should they be your first choice?

States that are going to provide the warmest welcome and have the best ranking for ease of doing business are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Should they be your priority?

Wherever you choose, two things really make the difference in terms of successful market entry:

  • You need to be present, consistently available, interested and committed to this market
  • Your market entry will flourish on the foundation of your relationships (this can be tricky for Australian business which is remarkably transactional)

INTO INDIA is a big fan of the work of government agencies such as Austrade and the state trade offices in India. Talk to them – often.

Australia’s trade relations with India have grown well since our free trade agreement, and the potential for longer term growth is enormous.

For you, it might be just a question of where?

Young Indian Australians are our most switched on and connected generation

Recent data shows Australia now has a one million Indian-born community.

For perspective – this growth lifts India above England as Australia’s top overseas country of birth for the first time.

It gets bigger.

There are over 35 million “overseas Indians” living across more than 200 countries according to the Indian government.

Now, through a global movement called “Indiaspora”, Australian Indians can be super connected around the world with these fellow Indian migrants.

No other migration group globally has these numbers and this reach.

A report released in March by Indiaspora found the number of overseas Indians has tripled since 1990.

But the story is not just the number of people.

Overseas Indians have enormous financial clout. Indiaspora estimates the diaspora earns a combined US$730 billion ($1,030 billion) a year, not including business income, stock options, and property holdings.

Indian-origin leaders permeate the highest levels of global corporations, especially in the technology sector.

Indiaspora’s Australia country head, Jai Patel, a good friend and leader of Australia-India business and investment, who also leads KPMG’s India Business Practice, speaks enthusiastically about harnessing the knowledge and experience of “leading lights across India’s global diaspora”.

“Australia’s diaspora provides connections not just to India but to the global diaspora in many other parts of the world,” says Patel. “There is a huge opportunity for us to plug into that.”

Exciting for Australia – but it might take time to reach full potential.

Australia’s Indian diaspora is the “new kid on the block” – Indians have a much longer heritage in countries like the US, Britain and Canada.

With this new generation of switched on Indians, I am sure we will get there.

It could change Australia’s connectivity globally.

Matt Wade, a veteran of good reporting about India, wrote an outstanding analysis for The Age – READ MORE HERE:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/young-smart-driven-the-dynamic-global-movement-growing-in-power-and-influence-20260422-p5zq4b.html