Meeting companies in person is the backbone of our rigorous research process – as part of this, JM Finn Investment Manager Ben Hudson undertook a recent visit to India to meet with many Indian companies, fund managers and economists.
Our special report is based on the findings from Ben’s research trip. It covers areas such as India’s rapidly developing infrastructure, its adoption of digital payments, the characteristics of its demographics and its employment market.
A summary of the report is below, click the link to download the report PDF.
Summary:
- Congestion has negatively impacted the country for decades, but ambitious government efforts to build infrastructure, including new roads and airports, are making rapid inroads to easing the problem. India has plans to build another 200 airports across the country by 2047.
- Improved connectivity has fuelled a domestic tourism boom in recent years; more than 99% of tourism in India is domestic.
- Motorbikes, scooters and mopeds make up 75% of the vehicles on India’s roads.
- Changes to US visa rules have meant that a greater proportion of those who are educated in US universities are heading back to India for employment.
- There has been a rapid expansion in digital payments, with a payments system called Unified Payments Interface (UPI) which has expanded from handling 100m transactions in 2017, to over 131 billion transactions in 2024.
- Over 96% of consumption remains in non-durable goods (food, hygiene products, cleaning products etc), so there is only a small relative market for discretionary spending.
- Over the past five years, 100 million investment accounts have been opened, with new accounts being added at a rate of around 2 million per month.
- The IT services sector accounts for around 7% of Indian GDP and has been a key pillar of growth over recent decades, however there have been significant layoffs in the sector over the past year.
- India remains heavily reliant on imported energy, particularly oil and gas. This leaves the economy exposed to external shocks, especially the US-Iran conflict.
The value of securities and the income from them can fall as well as rise. Past performance should not be seen as an indicator of future returns. All views expressed are those of the author and should not be considered a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any products or securities.
India Special Report
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