Our report summarises what opportunities German companies in India see for their business development this year and what challenges they face.
Although India is currently only 23rd in the ranking of Germany's most important trading partners, the country offers German companies a huge and further growing market with a growing middle class. So far, the potentials are only being exploited at a low level. German companies in India are therefore optimistic that the country will increasingly develop into another relevant market and that the contribution of the Indian business to the overall German groups will rise over time constantly.
This is made clear by the results of a survey among Indian subsidiaries of German groups as well as German companies with activities in India, which we conducted for the German India Business Outlook 2021.
The companies surveyed expect a profitable year in 2021. 66 percent expect sales to increase. Almost half (49 percent) also expect higher profits compared to the previous year. 36 percent of the companies want to increase their investments in 2021 and 37 percent plan to hire more staff.
In contrast, there are difficulties and challenges that companies face in the country: 59 percent feel adversely affected by Indian bureaucracy and administrative hurdles. 43 percent of the respondents see currency risks as critical and 38 percent consider corruption to be one of the three biggest problems for their company in India.
The German Indian Business Outlook 2021 summarises the results of the survey and provides insights into the business expectations of German companies in India and the potential of this country.