“The India of today is the China of twenty years ago”

An Indigo Airbus flies over the city of Mumbai, June 20, 2023. Indigo has placed an order for 500 Airbus planes during the 2023 Paris Air Show. ASHISH VAISHNAV/ZUMA-REA Impossible to miss the colorful storefront green, stamped “Ladurée” in gold letters. In New Delhi, the iconic French brand’s store, inaugurated in September 2021, is located in Khan Market, one of the most exclusive districts of the Indian capital, where ministers and rich Indians come to do their shopping. Inside, the speakers blast French song hits from the 1960s, like Douliou-douliou Saint-Tropez. “The songs currently playing at Ladurée Champs-Elysée are exactly the same,” points out Chandni Nath Israni, boss of the Indian franchise. And like in Paris, the prices are exorbitant. A macaron costs 240 rupees, or 2.60 euros, in a country where 60% of the population lives on less than 5 dollars (4.50 euros) per day. “We are targeting what we call the “ambitious class”, those who are ready to spend,” admits Chandni Nath Israni. And the customers are there. When we opened our first store, people lined up. » In less than three years, the French pastry shop has opened four establishments in India and is preparing to inaugurate a fifth in Calcutta in October. By 2025, Ladurée should have around ten tea rooms. “The luxury segment itself is very limited, but the segment of consumers who aspire to luxury is untapped. This is where the opportunity lies,” says Praveen Kenneth, founder of Beautiful India, a luxury goods brand, and former managing director of Publicis India. With 1.4 billion inhabitants and an average growth of 7.3% over the last twenty years, India is a market coveted by companies which mainly target the rich. This is a tiny part of the population, but represents considerable volumes. According to a study by Goldman Sachs, published in February, the number of consumers considered wealthy will increase from around 60 million people in 2023 to 100 million in 2027. The latter are defined by the American investment bank as those who earn around $10,000 per year per person, who have credit cards and who fly at least once a year. From large groups to SMEs, India is home to 716 subsidiaries of French companies. This is still low compared to China, which has 2,100, almost three times more. However, most of the flagships are present in the subcontinent – ​​37 CAC 40 companies but also dozens of SMEs and mid-sized companies (ETI), as well as more than a hundred self-employed people. You have 69.01% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



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