Don't eat fruit. Make "facilitation payments". Expect goods to go missing. Read on for 24 more killer facts...
1 Rollercoaster rupee
“The rupee is volatile,” warns Mark O’Sullivan, head of trading at Currencies Direct. "The central bank is raising rates to try to slow the economy, but this is having little effect other than strengthening the rupee. The pound has gone from 87 to 81 rupees since the start of the year, with a similar effect being seen against the dollar.”
The solution? “By utilising a forward contract, it is possible to fix the rate when the contract is agreed for a delivery date in the future, thereby protecting profit margins. And because only a small deposit is required, a forward contract has minimal impact on cash flow.”
2 Mind your manners
Over 80 per cent of Indians are Hindus and accord the cow special privileges (note, however, that the cow is not actually worshipped by Hindus). Wearing or carrying items made from leather, such as shoes, belts and handbags, may cause offence.
It is also advisable to acquaint yourself with Indian manners. When negotiating, remain quietly spoken and be indirect. You should never raise your voice to make a point, and standing with hands on hips is regarded as an aggressive pose.
Likewise, the word “no” is regarded as a harsh word and therefore refusals should be gentle, along the lines of “I’ll try” or “I’ll see”. Whistling, winking and touching the heads or feet of others are regarded as impolite.
Also watch out for the notorious Indian head wobble. A gentle movement of the head may mean agreement, disagreement or ongoing rumination.
3 Step one
The first port of call for any entrepreneur considering trading with India is the Indo British Partnership Network (IBPN). Set up in 1993 by the British and Indian prime ministers, the IBPN encourages and supports small firms looking to trade in India.
The Network is run by 25 board members, including representatives from the CBI, the London Stock Exchange and Cambridge University. The chairman is Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer. Visit ibpn.co.uk.
4 Happy Pongol Day
India is a land of many religions, and each one has its own holidays. Some days, such as Mahavir Jayanti and Id-ul-Zuha, are celebrated throughout India.
Others, such as Thiruvalluvar Day or Pongol, are celebrated only in the southern Tamil-speaking areas. Altogether there are over 100 celebratory days – sufficient to severely interrupt ill-timed business trips. See http://snipurl.com/indiaholidays.
5 Not so demure demurrage
Indian customs houses pose a threat to your supply chain. Hiro Harjani, the Anglo-Indian founder of clothing chain Aftershock, warns: “If you are importing goods, for example, invariably you will end up paying demurrage and customs officers to clear your goods in time. Sometimes a few of your articles in the cartons go missing. This is a very serious problem for doing business and you need to take this into account.”
6 Kashmir houseboat scam
India can present security risks for the unwary. David Hill, of security firm Red24, says business visitors should be wary of large-scale civil protests and scams. “Some of the better-known scams to be on the lookout for include the Kashmir houseboat scam, gem scams, and various taxi and hotel scams.
“The Kashmir houseboat scam involves foreigners being lured on to houseboats where various methods are used to con them out of their money before they can leave the boat. To avoid scams of this nature, arrange your own excursions, avoid touts and if using guides, ensure that they are reputable beforehand.”
7 Why India?
Growing at nine per cent, India is the world’s second-fastest growing economy, behind China. Income per capita is $885. Within the next decade the Indian economy will overtake the UK, France and Italy to become the world’s fifth largest. By 2050 only the Chinese economy will be bigger.
India has a middle class of 200 to 300 million and a workforce of 440 million increasing at 2.5 per cent, which translates to nine million new entrants annually. Around 60 per cent of this workforce is self-employed, 70 per cent is literate and ten per cent work in IT. Over 120 million Indians own a mobile phone, and India is the second largest market for Nokia, behind the US.
8 Don’t eat fruit
“Whenever you go to India,” say Jonathan Barber of Prima Dental, “always carry Imodium. I remember forgetting once – and spending a day talking to clients when all I could think about was porcelain.”
To avoid an attack of the Delhi Belly, he advises: “Steer clear of salads and raw vegetables. Only drink bottled water. And beware: in five-star hotels you’ll get beautiful displays of fruit. Eat some and you’ll be glad you packed the Imodium.”
9 The four regions
“Nationwide distribution is hard,” says Prima Dental’s Jonathan Barber. “India is so large it helps to divide it up.
"We believe there are four major commercial regions. In the West there is Jaipur and Goa; you have the Plains Region, which includes Delhi; there is Bangalore, which is so prosperous as to be a region in its own right; and then you have the region centred on Mumbai.”
He says that very few distribution companies will have a pan-Indian network: "The fragmented state of the country means it is very hard work to gain a nation-wide presence. You’ll need to work hard to find a partner in each of the four big zones.”
This is true for supermarkets and retail, too: there is no Tesco equivalent in India to provide instant pan-national access to consumers.
10 Getting a visa
“Don’t get a tourist visa if you want to do business in India,” says Jonathan Barber of Prima Dental.
“Get an annual multi-entry business visa. It costs a bit more, but you can sleep easy with it.”
He recommends using a processing firm, such as Benmar Passport and Visa Services, to do the queuing and form-filling on your behalf.
11 Wonga lingo
1 rupee = 100 paise
100,000 rupees = 1 lakh
10 million rupees = 1 crore
12 Local heroes
Indians are as proud of their entrepreneurs as we are. The most famous is Ratan Tata, chairman of the £30bn-valued Tata Group, the family firm founded in 1859.
The group is composed of 96 companies (28 of which are listed), and owns hotels, produces cars, steel and chemicals, and is a major power provider. It is hard to do business in India without coming across a tentacle of the Tata empire.
Azim Premji is the founder of Wipro, the largest indigenous software company.
Sunil Mittal is India’s “Mr Mobile”. As chairman and managing director of Bharti Group, India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service provider, he is responsible for the boom in mobile phone usage.
BM Munjal is the founder of the Hero Group, the world’s largest producer of two-wheeled vehicles: motorbikes and bicycles.
Mallika Srinivasan is India’s foremost female entrepreneur. She joined the family tractor-making firm Tafe in 1986 and turned it into a global giant.
13 Languages
There are over 800 languages and dialects in India, 42 of which are spoken by over a million people each.
Fortunately, you can get by in English.
“Having someone who speaks the local dialect will give you an edge, but it isn’t necessary,” says group head of HSBC India Naina Lal Kidwai. “English is the language of business all over India.”
14 Duties
If you want to supply goods to an importer, the red tape is minimal. Jonathan Barber of Prima Dental says there’s little to worry about.
“The paperwork is easily dealt with. The importer who is buying your goods will take care of everything. Compared with China, it’s a doodle!”
15 Pricey Mumbai
Just like New York and Hong Kong, Mumbai is a series of islands – which heavily restricts building. This, combined with Mumbai’s status as the financial capital of India, has resulted in soaring property prices.
Real estate agent Cushman & Wakefield rates Mumbai as the world’s fifth most expensive business location, ahead of San Francisco, Shanghai and New York.
16 Take a shufti
UKTI arranges exploratory tours throughout the year for entrepreneurs. On November 10-17, a tour will visit Mumbai and Delhi to examine commercial opportunities for first-time firms. A grant of £550 is available.
Email lucy.carr@uktisouthwest.org or call 01275 370 894.
17 Mind your language
Calcutta is now Kolkatta; Madras is Chennai; Cochin is Kochi; West Bengal is Bangla; and, of course, Bombay is Mumbai. But don’t worry if you slip up: the locals do, too. Even national cricket captain and Mumbai-native Sachin Tendulkar uses both the old and new names interchangeably.
18 Brilliant Bollywood
India’s film industry is the most prolific in the world, producing a thousand movies a year and employing four million people. You can take advantage of this industry by using Indian film professionals who are as technically capable – and vastly cheaper – than their British counterparts.
19 Mañana, mañana
It’s not just the Spanish who have a “do it tomorrow” philosophy. Hiro Harjani, founder of clothing chain Aftershock, says Indians have a similar philosophy, called “kal”.
“The efficiency in India is nothing like in China,” he says. “People make promises only to break them later. Everything is ‘kal’, which means ‘tomorrow’. It also means ‘yesterday’, so one can get easily confused!”
20 Slow-mooving traffic
“The traffic in many Indian cities can be terrible,” says HSBC’s Naina Lal Kidwai. “Bangalore probably has the biggest problems. If you think you can dash between meetings in a taxi then you are mistaken. Take work with you, as you can be kept waiting for an incredible amount of time.”
Worst offenders are cows, which wander across highways with impunity.
21 Tax
Sending profits back to your UK holding company will incur tax of 40 per cent, plus a 2.5 per cent “surcharge”. Corporate taxes may be imposed by central government, state governments and municipalities.
When hiring employees you’ll need to establish whether they are skilled or non-skilled for tax purposes. This isn’t an easy judgement, as no definitive rule exists: each piece of legislation has its own definition.
22 Not bribes but facilitation payments
“Corruption can be very evident in Indian business,” says Ajit Mishra of Arlingtons Sharmas, St James-based solicitors specialising in Indian law. “You should understand that certain activities are simply part of normal life. Don’t get offended!”
He warns that bureaucrats will often require an additional fee to process documents quickly. “In the UK you have an official fast-track scheme for some types of documents. In India there are no such official schemes. But unofficially you will need to hand over money to speed things up.”
23 Jarndyce redux
Indians aren’t litigious, but if you do get taken to court be prepared for a long wait. “A commercial dispute can take three to five years to resolve, compared with a few months in UK,” says Ajit Mishra of Arlingtons Sharmas.
“The problem is the number of courts. If you win a judgement, the other party can appeal, which prolongs the process.” He advises that all contracts should have an arbitration clause to avoid the courts.
24 Know your options
To do business in India there are many options: you can start a subsidiary; found a joint venture; found an Indian company; or open a branch, liaison or project office.
“There are no restrictions,” says Ajit Mishra of Arlingtons Sharmas. “But you will need to inform the Central Bank of India of your activities, especially if you are bringing money into the country. The laws are changing fast, so you will need specialised legal advice.”
25 Capital gains tax
Assets held for more than three years, or one year for securities, are subject to 20 per cent capital gains tax. Short-term capital gains are taxed at the normal corporate income tax rates.
Short-term capital gains that arise on the transfer of equity shares or units of mutual funds are taxed at a rate of ten per cent. Losses on assets are fully deductible from gains.
26 Need an engineer?
India offers two things in abundance: cheap, unskilled labour and top-end engineers. The high level of R&D invested over the past decade has resulted in the reverse migration of more than 100,000 engineers in the past three years to add to the one million engineers trained domestically a year.
Many big US firms have located their main R&D centre in India. At Cisco, Adobe and Texas Instruments, a third to a half of all patents are developed in India. IBM and GE employ 10,000 Indian researchers between them.
27 Vocab test
NRI = Non-resident Indian. Lakshmi Mittal, GK Noon and Karan Bilimoria are three notable NRIs.
Father of the Nation = Gandhi.
On the anvil= about to happen. For example, “a new trade agreement is on the anvil”.
Metro = a city, not an underground train system.
Cent per cent = a hundred per cent.
Meat = includes fish and shellfish. Used to notify vegetarians.
Tell me = means “how may I help you?” when answering the phone.
A buck = a rupee, not a US dollar.
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