This year and next, India will be the fastest-growing large economy in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. By the early 2020s, it is also set to become the world’s most populous country, with an average age of 30, compared with 40 for China and 50 for Japan.
Furthermore, by 2025, India will have 69 cities with a population of more than a million, and by 2030, Mumbai’s economy alone is expected to be bigger than Malaysia’s today.
The Indian government has allocated the equivalent of Bt42 billion to build almost 100 new smart cities and develop satellite towns around existing cities. It has also been actively promoting manufacturing in the country through programmes such as “Make in India”, and needs investment to improve the country’s infrastructure.
This creates significant opportunities for Asian companies that possess the technology and expertise for urban development, infrastructure and energy. However, in some markets, companies are yet to explore what India has to offer.
Take Singapore. While more than 8,500 Indian companies are operating there, with many using the country as a base to expand into the rest of Southeast Asia, businesses in Singapore tend not to look to India as part of their expansion plans, focusing more on the Asean region and China.
This is a missed opportunity, as there is a strong case for businesses to diversify and rethink opportunities in India.
The relationship between Singapore and India dates back hundreds of years and is underlined by historical, commercial and cultural ties. Recently, there has been fresh momentum with the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership, which provided a blueprint for cooperation in defence, trade and investment, skills development and smart cities.
A close connection should also exist among the business communities in the two countries. More than 40 companies from Singapore recently visited Delhi and Mumbai to understand the landscape and network, and establish the right contacts in order to make the leap. Other Singaporean businesses would benefit from doing the same, as India has the potential to be the perfect market for scaling up.
The challenge for any business looking to explore India is making sense of the varying sets of rules and regulations that apply to each of the 29 Indian states. While the Indian government initiated the process of ranking the states on the ease of doing business – which is likely to improve over the years – it still means that entering each state is similar to setting up business in a new market.
For this reason, it makes sense to start with a single state in mind before moving on to another. The rules and strategy that you apply to one state may be very different to what works in another.
India is a place where you need long-term commitment, patience and strong relationships to succeed. Making the right connections locally is key. Even big Chinese and Korean companies tend to work with local partners when they set up business in India.
On average, it takes 27 days to set up a business in India, which is well above the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development average of 12 days, and just three days in Singapore. Managing expectations and using local firms to help in the process is important in India.
However, once the challenges are understood and managed, there are mutual benefits to doing business in and with India, and it’s time companies in the rest of Asia grasp the opportunity.

Ajay Kanwal is regional CEO, Asean and South Asia, at Standard Chartered Bank.