A country of extremes and contradictions, of mountains, snow, desert sand dunes, tropical jungles and rolling plains, India has been one of the fastest developing markets in the world these last five years.
The second most populous country in the world, India is also one of the youngest in Asia with a median age of 25 years. A thriving, bustling and developing gateway for the rest of South Asia and the Middle East, India represents a psychological and historical halfway point between Europe and Asia for many.
Our journey in India started in 2006 when we invested in joint venture called Beehive Priority. “We saw up close and personal, India’s drive for modernity, march towards self-actualisation, strategic long term patience and yet its impatience for success and ultimately its importance and influence grow culturally, geo-politically and financially in the region” remembers Kunalan Chakravarthy, chief executive, Priority Consultants Group.
Our clients, especially multinational corporations started exploring heavily in the region with a similar strategic focus on extracting value from India in about 10 years or more. The initial collaboration with the likes of InfoPrint – and IBM and Ricoh joint venture, NASDAQ listed NetApp and Oracle opened our eyes and invigorated the spirit.
Now 12 years now, the country is a veritable economic powerhouse next to the world’s leading economies from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. According to a report by the United Nations, India is slated to have eight of Asia’s 15 modern mega cities by the year 2030. The Indian real estate business is expected to breach the US$1 trillion mark by the year 2030 from a standing start of US$120 billion – essentially contributing about 13 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Delhi is seen as the most vibrant property market with demand for hospitality, commercial and retail space outstripping residential demands. Commercial space for the country’s much vaunted technology, burgeoning e-commerce and consulting sectors are expected to drive the demand in top tier cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Delhi’s Connaught Place, No. 1 business district in Delhi. Photo courtesy of Avanta.co.in
Intensely cultural and multi-ethnic, the country represents multiple nations and languages in relatively concentrated land mass called India. Routinely described as one of the world’s most diverse and fragmented media markets, India represents a multicultural information and cultural centre for the region between Iran in the West, Myanmar in the East, Sri Lanka in the South and everything else in between.
“Our ability to provide our clients with the access to Asia is predicated on our strength and capabilities in India. Along with Southeast Asia, India is a key aspect of our outreach value to clients and partners”, explains Kunalan Chakravarthy.
Working to make this a reality is Manish Shandilya, General Manager and Head of Operations India, who joined the firm some nine months ago. Today he strengthened and established successful working teams and infrastructure in India with offices in Mumbai (HQ), Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.
“We are bullish about our business in India as a renewed vigour and interest from large multinational corporations and enterprises from the US, Europe and the UK make this region a cornerstone of their Asia strategy”, says Manish Shandilya.
Our native DNA and appreciation of multinational company systems and approach adds valuable cultural perspectives in the way we work. We know that our methodology of process driven, measured communications services, deliver meaningful results to clients, partners and stakeholders.
“Priority India enables our clients to address a large and potentially fast growth market in an organised, consistent manner, in line with their corporate goals, global best practices and growth objectives,” explained Manish Shandilya.
It is an exciting new chapter for the more than three decade old firm, founded by Priority Consultants Group chair, Jane Prior in 1985 in Singapore. Since the initial investment in 2006, Priority has built a successful track record through technology and corporate wins in addition to NetApp, Oracle, InfoPrint, including Lanxess, Pepsi and Malaysia Tourism.
After the dissolution of the joint venture in 2013, Priority Consultants continued to support and deliver to clients in India such as Arbor Networks, ASG, Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), Extreme Networks, Enphase, Tenable Networks, TIBCO and Regus (Pakistan).
“With a mandate to develop a sustainable and scalable consulting services firm, we are confident Manish will nurture the Priority brand in our unique way”, Kunalan Chakravarthy concluded.