India's Economic Transformation and City-level Growth Opportunities, 2024-2035

Digital Transformation, Tier 2 City Activity, and China+1 Investments Will Transform the Nation

India has emerged as a global bright spot economy, especially supported by robust 6% to 7% levels of GDP growth. As India continues on its vigorous growth trajectory, several macroeconomic trends will redefine its business and growth opportunities. This analysis assesses in detail some of the country’s key long-term trends, with implications up to 2035. As global supply chains are realigned, for example, India is emerging as a key beneficiary of the China+1 supply chain narrative. India’s 2035 GDP will also get redefined by both the start-up and digital economy, with huge leaps seen in areas including start-up growth, digital payments, and eCommerce.

Another key transformation will be the increasing shift in economic activity toward India’s tier 2 and tier 3 cities, as metro cities (or tier 1 cities) face cost and resource pressures. This trend has become particularly pronounced post-pandemic as employers can access a larger talent pool in these non-metro locations with the advent of remote and hybrid work, and also with cost reductions tied to moving beyond metros.

To help pinpoint the next wave of economic growth, this analysis undertakes a city-level benchmarking exercise for 75 Indian cities (selected based on a population cutoff). The publisher assessed these cities across parameters such as economic opportunities and infrastructure development (among others) through an indexed approach. The final results provide city scorings and ranking per city level (i.e., tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3).

The city benchmarking exercise is followed by a city scorecard analysis of select tier 1 and tier 2 cities. The cities are scored and assessed with regards to business environment and industry strength. Sub-pillars assessed include policy support, logistics connectivity, skilled worker availability, co-working spaces, industry clusters, industry hub potential, investment summits, and luxury market demand. The detailed analysis and scoring on these sub-pillars help businesses identify city-level trends and go-to market opportunities. City-level scorecards have been generated for Coimbatore, Kochi, Pune, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Nagpur, and Ahmedabad.

The thought leadership piece concludes with India’s growth opportunity universe focusing on electronics and semiconductors, electric vehicles, and IT/ITeS.