BT India@100: Global South is a big untapped market for India, says Romal Shetty

India should explore the Global South as a future trade market, which largely remains untapped and has huge potential with a population of five billion amidst global trade wars, said Romal Shetty, CEO, Deloitte South Asia.

Speaking at Business Today India@100, Shetty said that trade constraints will force innovation, and India has done well under constraints. “The Global South is a market that you need to open up significantly. You look at newer avenues and newer ways of doing things. You have to look at the upper value chain everywhere. There is a five billion population in the Global South, and it’s a big market.”

He listed key focus areas for Indian companies to become trillion-dollar entities. These include increased spending on Research & Development, creating platforms, branding, and focus on the Global South.

“There are just 9-10 global trillion-dollar companies, and if India decides to be a trillion-dollar company only for India, it's not going to happen. India has to do for India and India has to go to the world. So, I think branding is very essential. Indian companies have to focus on branding; it is an area that needs focus,” he said.

Shetty said that value creation should happen out of India. “The capability that we have right at the top is quite phenomenal. If you want to go global, you will have to focus on how to brand, and I think that is an area that is not taken as seriously as probably some of the other areas,” he added.