Swedish companies do business with India on a regular basis, but it is not always shown in the media. Recently, the focus has been on China.

There are over 700 Swedish companies that regularly do business with India, at the amount of one million SEK or higher.

India is a country where companies like to manage the entire process from the beginning to the end. They begin by exploring the market, and then move on to purchasing, production and finally sales. It is no longer simply about access to low production costs, but rather that the entire business and manufacturing part is handled locally.

The population is another reason for investment.
India's middle class consists of approximately 300 million people, and continues to grow. This means that 300 million people need products of various kinds. The larger the population is, the greater the chances are to success with the sale of goods.

Even if Swedish companies in India are paid less for their products, it evens out anyway. They believe that the business on the Indian market is equally successful as the rest of the markets.

A report from the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India during the fall of 2009 showed the following in regards to Swedish companies in India. Questions were sent to 108 Swedish companies and received responses by 57 percent of them.

This is how the Swedish companies in India perceive the situation.

• There are most active Swedish companies in engineering, IT, trade and infrastructure.

• Cities where headquarters are established by Swedish companies are Delhi, Guragon, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai in correct order.

• Now, Swedish companies plan to establish operations in Chennai, Ahmadabad and Kolkrata in respective order.

• The main reasons that Swedish companies choose India as market are demand, low cost of production and a very large population.

• More than 75 percent of Swedish companies in India also have operations in China (79 percent), Southeast Asia (69 percent) and the Middle East (58 percent)

• It is expected that the figure for the number of local workers in Swedish companies will almost double between the years 2009 - 2012.

• Nearly 85 percent of companies expect that the growth in India will increase in 2010.

• 9 out of 10 Swedish companies will increase their activity in India during the next three years.

                                                                                  Cecilia Helland