If no, then this article is for you..
For many European companies, India is becoming more than a promising market for exports or low-cost sourcing. It has become something much larger: a strategic extension of global business.
As M+V Altios celebrates 25 years of supporting companies in India, one learning stands out clearly: once a business finds its footing here, India stops being an “entry market” and becomes a growth engine for internationalisation.
From Entry to Expansion: India’s Transformation
Over the past decade, India has moved from being a destination for low-cost production to a centre for innovation, scale, and global capability.
With its population surpassing 1.4 billion and its economy among the fastest growing in the world, India today offers what few markets can – size, speed, and stability.
For European companies, this combination is powerful. India’s young, skilled workforce, coupled with a government focused on infrastructure, manufacturing, and digitalisation, creates conditions similar to the early years of the European single market, but at a much larger scale.
The country’s stable political environment and pro-business reforms have made it one of the world’s most attractive destinations for sustained investment. For businesses already present here, the next logical step is deeper integration and local value creation.
Managing Complexity with Experience
India’s potential often comes packaged with complexity. The scale and variation between its 28 states can surprise even the most experienced multinational teams. Tax structures, land policies, and labour regulations differ from one region to another, requiring local understanding to navigate effectively.
That’s where experience counts. Over two decades in India we have guided more than a thousand foreign companies through India’s evolving landscape – from market entry and compliance to full-scale operations.
One lesson from those years in India: structure enables speed. Businesses that build strong local foundations in accounting, HR, logistics, and tax compliance are the ones that scale fastest. By managing these operational layers, we allow clients to focus on growth, partnerships, and innovation, rather than paperwork and permissions.
Read how we helped a German company streamline its back-office operations in India, allowing its team to focus on sales and expansion.
Aligning Cultures, Building Trust
For many European companies, cultural differences can be as challenging as legal frameworks.
“Indian professionals often hesitate to say ‘no,’” Singhal says. “Our yes can have many meanings, while for a German or a Swiss manager, yes means one thing only. That can create misunderstandings.”
To bridge this, we invest heavily in cultural onboarding. “Whenever an employee joins a client’s local team, our HR specialists conduct orientation sessions on cross-cultural communication. We train both sides to understand each other’s approach. That’s how trust builds and trust is essential for success in India.”
Through its HR and management advisory services, we help companies translate intent into impact, aligning European structure with Indian agility, so that teams collaborate with clarity rather than tension.
Discover how we helped a European company’s Indian subsidiary overcome a leadership crisis within three days, restoring stability to its manufacturing operations.
Leveraging India’s Global Capability
India’s internationalisation story is not limited to market access. It’s also about talent, technology, and capability. Increasingly, foreign companies use their Indian operations as Global Capability Centres (GCCs) – managing IT, finance, engineering, or ERP functions for their worldwide networks.
M+V Altios has adopted the same model internally: establishing shared-service functions in India that support its global offices across continents for other Altios countries. It is a living example of what India can offer – a combination of skilled talent, cost efficiency, and innovation mindset that enhances global performance.
Beyond Operations: Building Business Ecosystems
In India, business success rarely happens in isolation. Collaboration and networking remain critical. Recognising this, we have developed our own model of ecosystem facilitation – through offices in 8 cities of India (New Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Mumbai) that serve as shared business hubs and regular networking meets where foreign country heads exchange ideas and strategies.
This ecosystem mirrors the clustering seen in European industrial regions – where knowledge flows informally between peers. By enabling such interactions, M+V Altios helps its clients turn individual presence into collective intelligence.
The Advantage of Proven Experience
Setting up a business in India may look simple at first – hire an accountant, find a lawyer, register a company, and start operating. But in reality, running a cross-border business here involves many layers of regulation. Taxation, banking rules, customs procedures, and RBI compliance all need careful handling.
If these steps are not managed correctly from the beginning, small mistakes can turn into serious challenges later. That’s why experience matters.
For foreign subsidiaries operating in India, Singhal’s message is clear: don’t stop at market entry – move to market leadership.
You can’t miss India anymore. Whether you’re scaling manufacturing, setting up a GCC, or expanding into new states - now is the time. India isn’t the final stop on your global journey; it’s the launch pad.
India is a strategic response to global challenges like cost, supply chain fragility, and talent gaps. Success requires local insight, compliance, and agility.
With 30+ years of experience and having supported 150+ international companies, ALTIOS International helps mid-cap companies expand into India with precision—from market entry to growth.
Altios International operates in 24+ countries, including 8 offices India.
Our support includes:
- Market Entry & Strategy: Feasibility studies, go-to-market planning, and partner identification.
- Entity Setup & Compliance: Company registration, legal, tax, and regulatory services.
- HR & EOR: Staff hiring and management, without the need for a local entity.
- Operational Support: Incubation spaces, IOR services, and local office management are essential for facilitating business expansion in India.
The question isn’t if you should expand – it’s how and with whom.
