It took 33 years for India to increase its per-capita annual income from $100 to $500, but only five years to double it from $500 to $1,000. It’s not surprising then, that Indian industry reported huge rises in sales in June: cars (34 per cent), refrigerators (32 per cent), air conditioners (50 per cent) and microwave ovens (40 per cent) as reported by Samiran Chakraborty, Head of India Research at Standard Chartered Bank, a British financial institution which recently raised capital in India.

Penetration levels of most consumer goods are still low  – there are 12 cars per 1,000 people, while only 18 per cent of the population owns a refrigerator and 56 per cent owns a TV. India has plenty of spending to do to catch up with even China, where there are 128 cars per 1,000 people and 80 per cent of the population owns a TV.

This assures a long growth curve for most consumer products and the companies that produce and market them. Many western companies who have ignore India thus far should take a close look before it’s too late.

In April 2008, Bharti Retail opened its first “EasyDay Market” retail store in founder Sunil Bharti Mittal’s mid-sized home town of Ludhiana in Punjab. Eschewing the major metro cities that have been the focus of other  Indian retail chains such as Spencers, Reliance and More.  Since then, CEO Vinod Sawhny has led the opening of two more stores, both in North India. With a focus on value retailing, the company has targetted Punjab and Haryana and may expand to neighboring northern states of Uttarakhand, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. This avoids locations where Pantaloon’s Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar are entrenched and also builds near Mittal’s traditional strongholds. Many FMCG  (CPG) manufacurers have located their factories in states such as Uttarakhand and Himachals for tax reasons, so the supply chains for packaged products won’t be that long.

As a value retailer, it makes sense that Bharti gets about 15 percent of its sales from private labels. Sawny expects to double that percentage to 30% in an interview with the Indian newspaper DNA.

Separately Bharti has a joint venture with the world’s largest retailer Wal-mart. But Indian law requires that stores that are run by this joint venture offer products for sale only to businesses and not to consumers. They are being referred in India as CnC or Cash-and-Carry wholesale stores. The first such wholesale location opened in the border city of Amritsar.