2 minutes to read by  RBC Emerging Markets Equity team, L.Bensafi, CFA, V.Erb Jan 24, 2024

Returning to India recently, we spent time in Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state and the major urban centre for the country’s south-central interior. We then flew to Mumbai, India’s most populous city and its financial and commercial centre.

Hyderabad is known as the life sciences capital of India and is renowned for its tropical climate, greenery, cosmopolitan atmosphere and eclectic cultural mix. During our trip we met with an ER&D business and visited hospitals and pharmaceuticals companies. Witnessing the vast number of engineers working on active pharmaceutical ingredients and formulations, we were in awe of the sheer scale of things in India, as we always are.

We then flew to Mumbai, which is situated on the western coast of Maharashtra state and borders the Arabian Sea. Attending an investors’ forum, we witnessed a far higher turnout than in previous years, and it was interesting to note around half of the 400 plus guests were domestic investors. We also noted the large and varied number of companies presenting, from power utilities to motorcycle companies to copper wire manufacturers. We even met an Indian vineyard company for the first time.

The Indian equity market is diverse, with little concentration risk, and it is clearly a stock picker’s market. 2023 saw a record number of IPOs, domestic mutual funds’ ownership is at a record high, and systematic investment plans are offering a stable base of inflows into these vehicles. Furthermore, during the pandemic, Indian household savings in equity rose quite dramatically. Clearly a new investment culture is emerging in India, with the money sticky and supportive of the overall stock market.

In our piece, we discuss the above in more detail and we also highlight:

• Hyderabad’s journey to becoming one of the five largest urban economies in India.

• The impact of the city’s economic growth, from an environmental perspective.

• Site visits with one of our companies, including a trip to its centre of excellence.

• India’s ‘Navratna’ companies and their role in the country’s economic growth.

In 2023, India became only the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. It’s clear to us that its positive trajectory means it is also shooting for the stars.

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