Essay About Indian Economy And Indian National Congress Party

International Fiance
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The Indian economy has been experiencing more stability as far as the Government and political
scene is concerned. There has been reduced internal turmoil resulting from political influences and
this has created a better working environment for industries and businesses in India. The current
United Parties Alliance (UPA) government headed by the Indian National Congress party (INC) has
shown more tolerance towards foreign countries in general and towards foreign investments in
particular, and the recent reforms have placed India considerably high in the Doing Business Report,
2009 released by the World Bank (www.doingbusiness.org). However, the ongoing elections in India
are expected to result in turning the tide in favour of the radical Hindu opposition party the Bhartiya
Janta Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is opposed to westernisation of the
Indian culture. On the basis of this, it becomes safer for Starbucks to enter into an alliance/joint
venture with an Indian company that can provide a buffer from the political backlash and
consequent inroads into the Indian business scenario. Moreover, Starbucks needs to be vary of
possible opposition from the existing competitors (CCD, Barista, etc.) through use of political
influence and delaying tactics. However, likelihood of this is fairly low as the Indian market is large
enough to accommodate more players and the incumbents in the Indian gourmet coffee industry
will be minimally affected by Starbucks entry.
As far as the demographics are concerned, the majority of the Indian population is still rural
(www.eiu.com) but the urbanisation is occurring at a respectable 2.4 % annually. In spite of this, the
sheer size of the total Indian population (1.1 billion in 2007, www.eiu.com), makes the urban
population large enough for businesses to perform well. As the population gets increasingly
heterogeneous and the education levels improve, the standards of living have also been elevated,
which makes the environment extremely conducive for companies like Starbucks that are looked at
as an upmarket entity.