Find distributors and resellers in India

India is the most populous country in the world, with about 1.46 billion inhabitants in 2025. It passed China in 2023 and, unlike most large economies, its population is still growing and young: the median age is around 29. That is the single most important fact for any consumer brand looking at India.

GDP per capita is about 2,700 US dollars and the economy grows at roughly 7% a year, the fastest of any large economy. Services carry most of that growth — IT, outsourcing and finance — while the “Make in India” programme and production-linked incentives are pulling in electronics and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Incomes are rising fastest in the cities, and that is where imported products find their buyers.

India’s main imports are crude oil, gold and precious stones, electronics and integrated circuits, machinery, chemicals and fertilisers, and edible oils. Import duties are high compared to other Asian markets, so landed cost and local packaging usually decide whether your product can compete.

The obvious starting points are New Delhi for government, Mumbai for finance and media, Bengaluru for IT, Hyderabad and Pune for technology and manufacturing, and Chennai for industry and automotive. But a growing share of consumer spending comes from tier-2 cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore and Coimbatore, where there is far less competition for shelf space.

Retail and quick commerce in India

Modern retail is still a small slice of the Indian market — most sales go through millions of small kirana shops — but it is growing fast. Reliance Retail is by far the largest organised retailer, present in more than 1,000 cities and with its own quick-commerce network. Avenue Supermarts (DMart) is the most profitable food retailer, followed at a distance by Trent (Star) and Spencer’s. Names from the previous generation, such as Big Bazaar, HyperCity and More, have disappeared or changed hands after the collapse of Future Group.

The real change of the past few years is quick commerce: groceries and everyday products delivered from dark stores within ten to thirty minutes. Blinkit holds more than half of that market, with Swiggy Instamart and Zepto each around 20 to 25%; together they account for over 85%. The channel is expected to grow from roughly 4 billion to more than 25 billion dollars in sales by 2030, and that is where most of the urban growth in fast-moving consumer goods now sits.

For a foreign supplier this means two conversations at the same time: one with a distributor who can service traditional trade and the supermarket chains, and one about listings, pricing and delivery for the quick-commerce platforms. Few partners are strong in both, so check honestly which channel your product needs first.