Two of India’s most prominent family business groups are in a fight. They’re both after a majority share of Chinese electronics company Haier’s India arm.
In one corner of the ring is Reliance, which recently launched its own electronics brand, Wyzr. In the other is the Bharti group, which has never sold consumer electronics. But this is a space where fortunes are being made, so it makes sense to have a hand in it.
Bharti appears to be in the lead, given it has teamed up with private-equity firm Warburg Pincus. They’re after a 49% stake and could pay $720 million for it.
The Bharti group already operates in a range of sectors—telecom and infrastructure, insurance, real estate, hospitality, agriculture, food, and space communication. Its planned addition of electronics to the mix is just the latest episode in the increasing business concentration in India.
For the last quarter of a century, 25 family business groups have accounted for 15–20% of India’s GDP. This has largely remained unchanged, and likely won’t change anytime soon.
Seema Singh explores why in this edition of Make India Competitive Again, as read by Brady Ng.