EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS

It is high time out entrepreneurs realize the importance of being choosy in project identification.
Till recently, we in India kept on exploring the possibilities of manufacturing almost everything,
right from pins to planes and screws to sub-marines. Just as companies and individuals carry out
SWOT analysis for identifying business opportunities for our entrepreneurs. The completing
demands for our limited and meager resources are many and unless we apply a degree of
selectivity in our approach in resource allocation, we will continue to be a nation of foundation
stones. Given below are a few areas where we can think of concentrating more.

Tourism and Hospitality

India is a country of many countries. Our diverse culture, religions, languages, rich heritage and
vast geographical area make the country a place of tourist attraction. Hills and beaches, temples
and palaces, the deserts and the jungles are all these. There are not many countries in the world
where you can surf the sand and the sea. Privatization of airports and aviation sector could
further give boost to tourism industry. Tourism should therefore receive topmost priority.

Auto Ancillaries

India may not be the best car-manufacturing base, but we can certainly be the best ancillaries to
the automobile industry world over. Our entrepreneurs are capable to developing global scale
auto ancillaries. By all means, we should also continue car manufacturing, but we must do it at a
scale and quality at which the world community takes us seriously.

Two Wheelers

As a nation we have excelled in production of two wheelers – be they cycles, scooters or

motorcycles. We have the technology, the skills, and most of all, the critical mass to affect a
breakthrough. We should aim at capturing the world’s two-wheelers markets.

Garments

India has the potential of becoming a leading supplier of garments, apparels, silk, hosiery and
textiles. Indian textiles are well known world over. Our Ludhiana and Tirupur entrepreneurs
have done proud to the country in the area of woolen and cotton industry. By understanding
customer needs through extensive and systematic market research we can capture more markets
world over.

Software

India has already made a strong dent in world’s software market. For us the most natural thing is
to be number one software and consultancy services suppliers. Our country has the right
resources in the form of vast population of educated youth. Other developed and developing
countries with vast resources can perhaps continue making advances in manufacturing of
computers, computer hardware and computer chips year after year. Software exports from India
are growing more than 50 per cent per annum.

Light and Medium Engineering Industry

Many countries of the world are far ahead of India in manufacturing aircraft, ship and products
of similar nature. Unfortunately, we in India try to manufacture everything and finally end up
doing nothing well. Our strength lies in the light and medium engineering industry. We are in a
position to provide a leading edge in this industry. India also has the capability of becoming
world’s best foundry products maker. We should concentrate more areas where we have an edge
rather than thinly spreading our limited resources and expertize in areas like manufacture of
aircraft and flexible machine systems.

Trading/Supplies

Among India’s vast population there are communities like Marwaris, Punjabis, Gujaratis,
Tamilians, etc., with acumen for trading and acting as suppliers. It is, therefore, logical on part of
such communities to become global players in trading and operate at international levels. By
doing so we will be doing something that we are good at.

Education and Training

India has some of the world’s best universities and educational institutes, i.e., JNU, IIMS, IITS,
IISc, etc. The cost of education and training in India is nominal in comparison to developed
countries. There is vast reservoir of talented people in the country. By pooling resources and
networking with resource organizations we can create education and training facilities not only
for Indians but also for scholars from abroad. Indian educational institutions, both government
and privately managed, have the capacity and expertise to offer affordable education to persons
from other countries.

Poultry

India holds lot of potential for developing its poultry and poultry – based industries. A vast
population and export potential make this industry a lucrative activity for those who want to be
in poultry allied industry.

Food Processing

India has emerged as one of the topmost food producing countries in the world. Indian climate is
suitable for growing vast varieties of food grain. At present, most of the food grain is sold in raw
form. In food habits the world over is undergoing change. As a matter of convenience, people,
especially youngsters, prefer fast food or ready to eat food. Indian food is well known world
over. We need to exploit this potential by processing our food grains. Processed food will have
good market in India as well as abroad. Food processing would also help us earn must-needed
foreign exchange.
Fruit and Vegetable Processing

Fruit and vegetables are grown in plenty in India. The country has emerged as a leading producer
of fruit and vegetables. Because of poor transportation facilities, inefficient infrastructure,
bumper crops and lack of marketing facilities, many a time, lots of vegetables and fruit simply go
waste. We need to create fruit and vegetable processing facilities all over the country so as to
harness the potential for their production. Fruit and vegetable processing offers potential for high
value addition and potential entrepreneurs can earn a lot from such products. By processing of
fruit and vegetables, our producers will get proper price for their products, entrepreneurs will
have good business opportunities, masses will get employment and export of processed fruit and
vegetables will increase. While processing fruit and vegetables, our entrepreneurs need to take
all possible care so as to ensure quality and standard of their products.

Manufacture of Business Attires

Manufacture of business attires, especially for Indian women, is going to be a rewarding business
in days to come. Women’s participation in white-collar jobs is on the increase. With the influx of
multinational companies in India, workplace outlook and environment are improving. Well
managed companies, whether MNCs or of Indian origin, expect their employees to look smart
and dress well. Some of the organizations also prescribe a dress code. Increasing presence of
women in various workplaces has given a boost to business attire market. Till recently, business
attires, especially for women used to originate from developed countries and women used to pay
hefty price for such dresses. The growing business attire market offers good business
opportunities in this sector. Our potential entrepreneurs can think of getting into this business
both for Indian and overseas clients.

Corporate Gifting

Corporate gifting has picked up in India in the recent years. Indian companies and business
organizations spend crores of rupees on giving gifts to their employees, shareholders and
business associates on occasions like Diwali, New Year and Annual General Meetings. As per
rough estimates, corporate India spends approximately Rs.1000 crore every year on corporate
gifting and the culture is on the rise. Potential entrepreneurs, especially those good in public
relations, can easily get into such business. Other associated businesses in this line could be
manufacture of greeting cards (Diwali, New Year, Christmas, Valentine day, Birthday, etc.) for
various occasions.

Herbal Medicines and Skincare Products

India has the distinction of growing vast variety of herbs. Indian population of more than a
billion ensures a sufficiently large market for herbal medicines and skincare products. People,
world over, in general and in developed countries, in particular, are becoming increasingly aware
of after-effects of allopathic medicines and synthetic skincare products. Women, in particular,
are slowly switching over from synthetic skincare products to herbal-based products. India has
an established tradition of growing and using variety of herbs. We need to go in for
commercialization of herbal-based medicines and skincare products in a big way.
Mineral Water

Even though mineral water manufacturing was started in India during the 1960s, but the market
did not pick up till 1985. During late 1980s and 1990s mineral water market in India increased
by an impressive rate of 30-40 per cent annum. Market for mineral water in India is spreading
very fast. People are becoming health conscious. We are going to enter in an era when potable
bottled water would find place in almost all general stores and it will become an unavoidable
expenditure for people at large. Statistics reveal that size of Indian Mineral water market during
1999 was of the order of approximately Rs.800 crore. Many small-scale entrepreneurs can find
business opportunities in this fast growing market.

Paints, Enamels and Varnishes

India is presently experiencing an automobile revolution. Standard of living of the sizeable

Indian middle class is also improving at a rapid pace. Both these trends indicate an increasing
market for paints, enamels and varnishing. Industrial and household use of these products is quite
promising and much better than many other products. Manufacture of these products in small-
scale sector should therefore need to be considered as a viable business proposition.

Organic Farming

The concept of organic farming is of very recent origin in India, Many developed countries grow
food organically. Health conscious persons prefer organically grown food. In India also, people
are becoming increasingly health conscious. They are well aware of after effects of food and
vegetables, which are grown by making excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
insecticides. Some companies and individual farmers have started organic farming in India. To
ensure better health for our people we need to promote organic farming in a big way. Our
potential entrepreneurs with interest in agricultural related activities would perhaps find good
business opportunities in this area.

Music and Entertainment

Music and entertainment are required the world over. With a large number of channels in
operation and a revolution in satellite technology the music and entertainment industry has
thrown open numerous opportunities. Potential entrepreneurs should grab opportunities in the
fast developing music and entertainment industry.

Writing Instruments

Literacy rate in India is slowly improving. Some of the conventional writing and learning
materials are fast becoming obsolete. Also because of economies of scale and cheap labor
availability, we as a nation are in a position to manufacture writing instruments at affordable
prices. Now with access to better technologies and huge Indian and overseas markets, our
entrepreneurs have an opportunity to exploit this market.

Plastics
Per capita consumption of plastics in India is hardly 2-5 per cent of per capita consumption in
developed countries like the US. Use of plastics in India, both in Industries and households, is
going to pick up in coming years. In spite of ill effects of use of plastics, it is rather impossible to
manage without it. The Indian plastic market is presently experiencing a growth rate of more
than 10 per cent per annum. It provides scope for setting up small-scale plastic processing
enterprises for manufacture of variety of plastic products.

Toys

Toy manufacturing (especially stuffed toys) is a low technology based less capital intensive and
highly labor intensive industry. Superstores abroad usually source toys from China, Korea and
Hong Kong. Consumption of toys in India and abroad is increasing. In India, the toy market
grew 10-12 per cent per annum during the late 1990s. It is estimated to touch an annual growth
rate of 15 per cent soon. India has potential to manufacture cost effective toys largely for Indian
market and also for world toy market. If China and Korea can do it why cannot we? Our
entrepreneurs need to consider toy manufacturing as a rewarding business.

Floriculture

Indian flowers are becoming increasingly popular in the world market. Flower market, especially
exports, is becoming favorable to Indian florists. Improvements in infrastructure and transport
facilities would further brighten the prospects of Indian flowers abroad. At the same time, florists
need to concentrate on domestic flower market as well.

Health-care Sector

India’s population to hospital bed ratio is a very poor compared to World Health Organization’s
standards. (India’s population to hospital bed ratio is 1300: 1 against the WHO recommended
ratio of 250: 1). With the funds receding in government kitty, private sector will be required to
play major role in the health-care sector. Health-care, both in corporatized sector (Organized
sector) and also in informal sector, has potential for high growth in India.

Biotechnology

It is believed that early twenty-first century will belong to biotechnology and software in India.
In India biotechnology has just started picking up. Application of biotechnology especially in the
areas of agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, poultry, dairy and production of fruit and
vegetables will pay an important role in future. We should go for commercial application of
biotechnology in various sectors of economy wherever it is found feasible. Biotechnology would
therefore throw open many opportunities for entrepreneurs in future.

Information Technology (IT) Enabled Services

Business to Business Portal Solution (B2BPS) Services would be needed in a big way to address
the emerging needs of IT enabled services sector. IT enabled services is a US$ 180 billion
business. The sector includes services like GIS digitization, medical and legal transcription,
medical billion, and insurance claim processing and archival and indexing of records. All these,
and many more services, could be provided by Indian entrepreneurs. The pool of smaller service
providers from India can meet the needs of outsourcing from US, and other developed countries.

The InfoTech industry is the fastest growing sector in India. Indian IT industry is of the size of
US $5 billion at present and it is slated to grow to 20 times its current size of $100 billion by
2010. Prof. Michael Dertouzos, Director, Computer Science Laboratory at MIT (USA), visited
India in February 2000 in connection with IT Asia 2000 conference. He was highly impressed by
number of English literate people in India and spread of IT enabled services. He said that India
can funnel a majority of new $3 trillion business opportunity being generated in the area of IT-
enabled services – outsourcing basic white collar office work – by harnessing its 50 million
English literate populations. Mr. Dertouzos feels that after call centres and medical transcription,
a new business opportunity of outsourcing office work – accounting, legal, finance, marketing,
claim forms – to developing countries is gaining popularity and Indian stands a good chance,
right away, to grab a major share of this business. “Office work is estimated to be around $3
trillion annually and can fetch a decent $20,000 per annum to individuals in this business.

Education Portals

Application of information technology to education sector has started revolutionizing the process
of education in the country. MNCs and Indian Internet companies have started setting up
education portals in the country. In days to come professional education like management,
medicines, engineering, law etc., would be taught by making extensive use of internet. Under the
new innovative and emerging concept students would study and learn educational courses both at
school and college level online, i.e., through internet. Some companies have already set up their
web-sites, which offer various courses for school level students. IT-friendly potential
entrepreneurs can look forward to getting franchise of major players in providing IT based
educational courses.

Organized Retailing

As per industry estimates, total consumer spending in India is of the order of Rs.3, 80,000 crore.
Current volume of organized retailing in India is about Rs.5, 000 crore. The organized retail
industry business in India is expected to grow between 50-60 per cent each year during the next
few years. Organized retail industry is likely to achieve sales volume of Rs.30,000 crore by 2005
and would move into smaller cities in India, given that there is beginning to be some comb lance
of competition among organized retailers in the big cities. Retailing as a business, till recently,
was confined to small-scale shopkeepers but now even large business houses have started
considering it a potential opportunity. Venture capital and bank finance is also now available for
prospective retailers. Experts in retail industry feel that retail business is truly globalization, and
common patterns are emerging. Electronic retailing is yet another emerging area. Electronic
retailing is happening more in business to business space than in the business to consumer space.

Processing, Refrigeration and Transportation of Food, Vegetables and Fruits

India has long suffered the lack of a comprehensive cold chain. A large Purdon of agricultural
and other products produced in the country perish due to the lack of a serviceable refrigerated
storage and distribution network. A detailed study conducted by the government on the
agricultural and food industry has revealed that one-third of the products are ruined due to the
lack of adequate storage and preservation facilities. Meat, poultry, fresh produce and dairy can
only be distributed within limited geography and need to be consumed in a short period. Also,
sensitive medical requisition like vaccine and pharmaceuticals are suffering due to the lack of
refrigerated distribution. This state of affairs needs to be changed. Food and other precious
resources in our country must be preserved at all costs. The refrigeration industry would be
required to come through providing a wide range of industrial and commercial refrigeration
services that can serve the entire gamut of cold storage and refrigerated transport to retail display
and preservation units.

Cruising Business

The cruising business is gradually picking up in India. The Rich and the Famous has led to
immense popularity of cruises in last four years (1996-1999) with numbers increasing to 15,000
in 1999 from practically zero in 1996. The business of cruising represents enjoying the luxury of
dining in fine restaurants, casinos, excursions to golden beaches and exotic islands. The
perception of Indians about cruising business is changing. People no more consider cruising as
meant for elderly and retirees alone. The concept of a cruise holiday is becoming immensely
popular in India. The number of Indians holidaying on cruising trips in increasing due to
enhanced awareness through better marketing and advertising by our operators, fatter pay
packets, and a growing tendency to splurge.

To site an example of what kind of services cruises offer, Mr. Gautam Chadha, Chief Executive
Officer of Discover the World Marketing (this company owns two famous cruise lines, Royal
Caribbean Cruises and Celebrity Cruises) said P “You will never, ever be bored. You simply find
a corner on ship’s library, relax in a deck chair or lounge on private veranda. For fun loving
people, ships organize various activities such as flower arrangements, art auctions, cabarets,
casino – Las Vegas style, guest singers, live bands, and the like”. He expects a growth rate of 25-
30 per cent per annum in cruising business. At present, India does not represent even a fraction
of the total world market for cruises. There are more than four million passengers onboard
various cruise lines worldwide every year, he added. Recently developments in cruising business
clearly indicate good opportunities in this sector.

Courier Services

E-commerce related business is poised for exponential growth in the early 21st century.
Expansion of E-commerce in India and world over has given a boost to courier business. Recent
increase in share prices of leading courier companies (1400 per cent increase in share price of
Elbee Services in just six months and 400 per cent increase in share price of Blue Dart) is a clear
indication of growth potential of courier related businesses. The logic is very simple. The service
industry is expected to grow in leaps and bounds in the near future for the simple reason that
physical delivery of goods will be primarily handled by courier services companies. Corporate in
Net business will not be in a position to support a massive network of distribution, whose job in
future will be reduced to just delivering the goods manufactured from the manufacturer’s
doorsteps to the consumers. Besides maintaining a large network of distributors is expensive
when even the big wigs in the industry are cutting costs. Due to these difficulties courier
companies with an elaborate network would have enough business to transact. Their network is
going to be particularly beneficial to Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies who, at
present, depend on a network of sales persons to make their product reach the retail levels. If
recent trends serve any indication, courier services, both in organized and unorganized sectors
ensure a promising future.

Summer Solution Related Business Opportunities

Summer and power cuts are synonymous in India. Gone are the days when standby solutions to
power cuts in the form of ‘Hat and Pankha’, ‘Khas ki Chik’, ‘Surahi’, etc. used to be kept handy.
With the advent of technology solutions to frequent power cuts are immense. And for the times
when power is regular life can be bliss with a variety of cooling devices in the form of high tech
air conditioner and coolers. With latest state of the art technology being imbibed in these
gadgets, healthy air and healthy food are a de rigueur in today’s AC and refrigerators. Silent
invertors and one-pull generators are another lot becoming an essential buys for almost every
household. Depending on the demand a variety of invertors and generators can be manufactured
by small-scale entrepreneurs. Servo voltage stabilizers online UPS, line interactive UPS,
automatic voltage stabilizers, constant voltage transformers, manual voltage regulators, isolation
transformers, high voltage regulators, high voltage break down testers, electronic air conditioner
protectors, spike suppressors and busters are the other products related to summer solutions
which can easily be manufactured in small scale units.

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