The changes, challenges and upsides of doing business in India in 2016

STANFORD, Calif. (Diya TV) — The collaboration of increasing India’s gross domestic product has been a major focal point of Prime Minister Modi’s administration — the country’s $2 trillion GDP is well behind China’s $10 trillion and the United States’ $18 trillion — and now, efforts are being amped up in the Bay Area to encourage and inspire more to get involved.

With the combined efforts of Sannam S4 Group and the U.S.-India Business Council and Stanford University, the 2016 Doing Business in India seminar went off without a hitch. Consul General of India, Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok, delivered the event’s keynote address, and several other prominent executives such as Pavneet Singh of the U.S.-India Business Council and Ken Silverman, head of North American Sannam S4 & U.S. business centers were in attendance for a roundtable discussion.

All came together to deliver a simple message in solidarity: Shift American investors attention to India.

“There is a bright future for India,” said Ramita Arora, senior vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle International Desk. “The only thing is that we need to deliver.”

Ravindra Verma, managing director of TansAsia Infrastructure Group, agrees, and at the seminar, stressed the importance of getting Californians more involved, but keeping the focus on Silicon Valley.

“We need California, in particular, Silicon Valley, to come in and put money back into India and invest in everything from digital to technology to infrastructure,” he told Diya TV.

Adrian Mutton, the CEO and founder of Sannam S4, says the enhancement of infrastructure in India — both social and physical — will play a pivotal role in the country’s growth story.

“It’s why the Prime Minister [Modi] is traveling around the world and encouraging foreign governments and hedge funds and investors to invest public/private partnerships,” said Mutton. “It’s the only way India is going to realize the infrastructure investment it needs.”

Modi’s administration has revolutionized the way India does business both at home and abroad. Subtle, but important changes, have begun being noticed by businessmen and woman around the world, making the environment more attractive with less bureaucratic red tape.

An example of such is the temporary visa program India has implemented — thanks to the “visa on arrival” program, tourists who arrive from pre-approved countries are granted immediate 30-day visas without a prior application.

“Even in terms of registering a name, it used to take a couple of weeks,” said Ken Silverman. “Now I think you can get it done in a day, so we’ve seen a lot of the bureaucratic red tap cut down.”

For executives like Jodi Dell LaBlanc, vice president of sales for Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, that program has been a lifesaver. “To me, that’s one of the best things that has come to light since [Modi] arrived,” LaBlanc said. “Certainly in our world.”

There is much left to achieve, but events like these show that the door is open for collaboration and further growth in India, one of the world’s most vibrant and merging markets. Consul General Venkatesan said that India has benefitted from now being able to recognize and react to the competition.

“We now see that competition is when we will excel not only by getting the best of things from the outside, but also by enabling those Indian companies that are really good to compete and be among the worlds best.”