India: 6 Industry mega trends to watch in 2019

We are back with industry trends and this time we are looking at India. With data collated from multiple sources as our guide, we try to provide partners with context and inspire action. 

India and the world

The World Bank, as it usually does, released a report which acts as an overarching study of world economies. Globally, it presents a pretty dismal picture and raises concerns about trade wars between the United States and China. In a connected world, the slow growth in developed nations also affects the developing nations. Fittingly the report was called 'Darkening Skies'.

The only silver lining in a cloudy sky was India, which bucked global trends and continues to remain the world's fastest growing economy.  To give a perspective, the global GDP growth is estimated to be around 2.9% while India will grow at 7.5%. A statistic is just a number, but with context it becomes an opportunity. Understanding industry trends would provide consulting partners with focus areas, make better use of their resources and generate new business.

Industry Trends

That travel and tourism is one of the key drivers of the economy, is not a surprising insight. Considering the diverse number of tourist spots in India ranging from wildlife sanctuaries to ancient sites. These places of interest drive both domestic and international tourists . A recent report from the World Travel and Tourism Council reported that the sector contributed to 9.2% of the economy and is a major employer. Government initiatives like the e-tourist visa scheme (which is now extended to 166 countries) have made this a spotlight sector.

Opportunities: India aims to double the number of foreign tourists by 2020 taking the tally to 20 million!

India is counting on its demographic dividend for future growth. As the country with the most number of youngsters, there is a need for education in all forms ranging from primary education like schools to specialized research academies.Two statistics take the center stage in the discourse about education and illustrate the potential of the sector. The first is the number of students which is close to 500 million. The second is Gross Enrollment Ratio(GER) which tells on how many Indian students go on to pursue higher education . The GER now stands at an abysmal 25.3. Only 25 out of 100 students make it past secondary education.

Opportunities: ‌Mission 2020 to increase GER ratio to 30%

Manufacturing is one of the primary drivers of the Indian economy, and it currently provides employment to 30 million people and makes up 17% of India's GDP. An economy that delivers sustained growth needs to have manufacturing as its backbone.The fact of the matter is that this percentage contribution has not gone up since the opening up of markets in 1991. But recent efforts such as Make in India and the jump in the 'Ease of Doing Business' rankings have helped. Testimony to these efforts, India quietly became the 4th largest auto industry in the world.

Opportunities: A government mission to increase GDP contribution of manufacturing to 25% by 2025.

After undergoing some stress over the years, the real estate sector has bounced back. This u-turn attributed to structural reforms like the RERA act which aim to bring in transparency for both buyers and sellers.

Opportunities: Various initiatives under "Housing for all scheme" including Pradan Mantri Awas Yojana aim to make housing affordable for all Indians by 2022

India has a long history in retail, most of which is in the unorganized sector, which competes for the same customer as big retail chains. Retail is also interesting because of the emergent and disruptive e-commerce channel which is not just for organized players but opens up a new avenue for unorganized retail as well.

Opportunities: In 2018, the retail industry attracted 1.42 billion USD as foreign direct investment which is a good indicator for a growth industry.

With an expanding middle class, rising incomes and lifestyle diseases, there has been an increase in demand for quality and specialized healthcare in India. In the public health space, there have been some initiatives that tried to increase the awareness of modern and traditional healthcare (Ayurveda & Unani) to all sections of the society. The low cost of surgery compared to the rest of the world has made India a major destination for medical tourism which is growing 25% year-on-year.

Opportunities: The government's flagship health insurance scheme which has a defined cover of 5,00,000 lakh INR per family for secondary and tertiary care.

Afterword

While there is no doubt in India's growth, realizing this potential is dependent on the smart use of emerging technology and cloud solutions. For partners, each of these 6 industries have limitless opportunities for tech integration. We hope that this information will provide you with the macro economic context and inspire you to dive deep into the workings of these industries, understand them from the inside and with the arsenal of Zoho's cloud products- formulate winning solutions.

You can read our trends report covering Latin America here

For more information write to us at partner-team@zohocorp.com

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Sources

World Bank Annual Economic Report
IMF Reports
Central Statistical Office, Government of India