Chapter 8

Finding the Opportunities

For firms new to working in the developing world, finding opportunities in the Indian boom will require some adjustments. It will consume more of your time and resources than you might imagine at first. Contrary to what you’ve been reading in most of the business magazines, there’s no more gold on the streets of Mumbai than there was 100 years ago on the streets of New York City. So, where do you begin?

Well, I can sum it up by advising you to follow the money to the biggest cities, because that’s where much of the action is taking place right now. Virtually all of India’s growing middle class lives and works in and around the major city centers. That’s where much of the new infrastructure is going in, where apartment complexes and shopping centers are being built, and where new office towers are reaching to the sky. Granted, 70 percent of the country is still rural— and wonderful things are also starting to happen there—but the best place for the U.S. businessperson to go searching is in the urban areas.