India’s Role Is Evolving

India’s expanding role in global business is changing what headquarters need from Indian operations - not just execution, but visibility, governance and a live two-way dialogue. The session explored what an effective India control tower looks like as operations scale.

India’s Shift on the Global Map

Recent and upcoming Free Trade Agreements with the UK, EU, EFTA and others are reshaping how global headquarters view India. The country is increasingly seen as a base for supply-chain diversification, resilience and exports, alongside its established services strength.

• Trade diversification – FTAs are strengthening India’s position as a market that can compete in and sell into global markets.

• Beyond cost – India’s proposition is expanding beyond low-cost sourcing toward resilience, capability and global delivery.

• Rise of GCCs – Global Capability Centres are moving beyond BPO/KPO models into engineering, R&D and strategic competency hubs.

Keeping Local and Global Leadership Aligned

As operations scale, effective alignment depends on clear roles: global leadership sets direction, ambition and risk appetite, while local teams execute with speed and market knowledge.

• Bring India’s regulatory and market context into global strategy.

• Maintain regular India–global dialogue covering trends, risks and opportunities, not only financial results.

• Balance governance with business speed through clear guardrails and decision rights.

What Global HQ Needs to Understand About India

India is not one homogeneous market. Differences in language, culture, market maturity and supplier capability can be significant across regions, requiring a nuanced approach to strategy and execution.

• India can leapfrog – The move from BS4 directly to BS6 illustrates the pace of regulatory and market change.

• Value extends beyond price – Suppliers can offer flexibility, customisation and competitiveness, particularly at smaller volumes.

• Global leaders benefit from direct market exposure, while India teams should proactively translate local data into clear business context.

• Real constraints should be built into planning, including infrastructure and regional operating differences.

Building a Growth-Supportive Governance & Control Framework

Confidence comes from simple, frequently updated visibility rather than heavy, infrequent reporting. The aim is to give headquarters useful context and early signals without creating another layer of reporting.

• Dashboards over document digging – Provide visibility on supplier onboarding, compliance and delivery or risk indicators.

• Use familiar formats – Present information in formats Global HQ already understands and trusts.

• Build risk identification into governance – Strengthen proactive supply-chain risk identification and mitigation.

• Leverage digital maturity – India’s digital infrastructure can support stronger data visibility and transparency.

India’s regulatory environment continues to evolve, including GST, labour codes and data-protection requirements. Early-warning mechanisms and risk-based controls are therefore important to keeping headquarters informed.

Embedding Tax, Customs and Regulatory into Business Planning

Tax, customs and regulatory considerations are increasingly part of strategic business planning rather than a compliance afterthought. Their impact on cross-border transactions, supply chains and commercial decisions makes early planning important.

• Certainty mechanisms – Advance rulings and Advance Pricing Agreements can provide greater clarity on taxation.

• Changing tax framework – The new Income Tax Act is intended to simplify legacy provisions.

• Plan for tariff and regulatory volatility – Changes in duties and regulations should be treated as business-model considerations.

• Think beyond market entry – Regulatory roadmaps should anticipate requirements and costs as operations scale.

Presenting a Connected View of India to Global Boards

A fragmented, function-by-function view can make it difficult for headquarters to understand the full picture. Local leadership should connect developments across functions and explain their wider business implications.

• Use leadership presentations as a starting point for broader stakeholder conversations.

• Create common definitions and data sources across functions, supported by external market signals.

• Map ripple effects across finance, legal, sales, compliance and other functions, and frame updates around the action required.

The Five Pillars of an India MIS

The MIS should reflect the nature of the operation. For sourcing, focus on landed cost, performance and capacity, compliance and sustainability, market outlook, and forward risk. For broader entities, combine financial performance, a 30/60/90-day outlook, people metrics and a clear statement of support required from HQ.

The MIS should remain a living document, refreshed periodically rather than treated as a static monthly report.

One Principle for Managing India

The discussion pointed to a simple principle for Global HQ: look beyond sales and sourcing, recognise newer models such as GCCs, factor in country-specific benefits and put the right local leadership in place.

• Maintain clarity on priorities and communicate changes quickly and reliably.

• Trust and empower local teams within clear global guardrails.

• Learn from India’s progression from ‘Make in India’ toward designing, adding value to and exporting from India.

Audience Q&A

The audience discussion explored how AI and automation are changing the role of labour arbitrage, while product design, engineering, technology and IP creation remain important areas of opportunity for India’s GCCs. Manufacturing continues to have scope for growth, although its progress has not matched the scale of policy ambition.

The discussion also highlighted the role of PLI, green-technology support and FTAs in attracting mature manufacturing industries. The current China-plus-one environment creates an opening for diversified sourcing, even where India cannot compete purely on cost.

Key Takeaways for Business Leaders

• India’s role is broadening – FTAs, exports and GCCs are strengthening its position beyond a sourcing or sales market.

• Treat India as diverse – Regional differences in market maturity, culture and supplier capability matter.

• Build governance for scale – Control frameworks and regulatory planning should evolve with the business.

• Make tax and regulatory strategic – Embed these considerations into business planning and use available certainty mechanisms.

• Give HQ useful visibility – Lightweight dashboards and early-warning mechanisms can support better decisions.

• Connect the dots – Translate developments across finance, legal, sales, compliance and operations.

• Empower local leadership – Global teams set ambition and risk tolerance; local teams bring speed and market knowledge.

Speakers
Subroto Bose, Baker Tilly ASA India
Dr. Deepak Sharma, Managing Director, Indian subsidiary of a leading American multinational corporation
Sanjeev Agrawal, Expert in taxation, customs, finance and regulatory matters
Deepika Arora, Country-level business leader, sourcing and market expansion (India)

Watch the webinar recording here: