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Indian Brands Ride Manufacturing Push, E-Commerce Boom As New Consumers Drive Demand: Industry Leaders
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At News18 Rising Bharat Summit, industry leaders highlight India’s shift to domestic manufacturing, digital brands and tier-2 growth amid global trade disruptions.
India’s evolving manufacturing ecosystem, rise of digital-first brands and expanding consumer aspirations are reshaping trade and distribution models, industry leaders said at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit.
India’s evolving manufacturing ecosystem, rise of digital-first brands and expanding consumer aspirations are reshaping trade and distribution models, industry leaders said at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, highlighting how domestic production and new-age logistics networks are powering growth.
Amid global trade disruptions and tariff-related uncertainties, executives said Indian companies are increasingly turning inward, focusing on domestic manufacturing, flexible production and digital distribution to build scalable brands.
Domestic Manufacturing Gains Momentum
Abhishek Chakraborty, CEO of DTDC Express, said the global trade environment over the past few years has been volatile, forcing both manufacturers and logistics players to adapt.
“Two or three years ago, there was a lot of uncertainty for both logistics and manufacturers. The past one year has seen some of the biggest shake-down in the global world of trade, whether it’s because of tariffs or other shocks,” he said.
Against that backdrop, Chakraborty said Indian brands and sellers have used the disruption as an opportunity to strengthen domestic production.
“But, one story that stood out is that Indian brands, Indian sellers, Indian manufacturers, have taken as a big cue to take it upon themselves and honestly start focusing on actual domestic production and manufacturing,” he said.
He noted that the shift is no longer limited to multinational companies producing in India. “Now, not only the big brands or MNCs that used to come and produce, we got Indian homegrown D2C brands, omnichannel brands, brands using completely different distribution models that are now coming in and using the supply chain and logistics capabilities that we have build,” Chakraborty added.
He said quick commerce has changed consumer expectations around delivery speed. “Quick commerce probably led the way in terms of opening up our minds that you can get things in minutes. But it’s not that everything can be delivered in minutes. But certainly, the new generation of Indian consumers and manufacturers are leveraging the new networks that we are creating.”
Low-Cost Brand Creation Fuels Entrepreneurship
Gautam Kapoor, co-founder and CEO of PEP Brands (mCaffeine and Hyphen), said India’s entrepreneurial culture is increasingly finding expression through e-commerce.
“India is a land of entrepreneurs. Large part of young Bharat is becoming entrepreneurs than looking for a job,” he said.
According to Kapoor, e-commerce has lowered entry barriers for new brands by enabling smaller investments and flexible manufacturing options.
“I think e-commerce is one of that places where people find a lot of connect and able to create brands and products by investing less amount of money,” he said.
He added that India’s manufacturing ecosystem now allows brands to experiment and start small. “What has Indian ecosystem manufacturing done is that the capability to any brand to go back and go to a manufacturer, create a fashion brand or personal care brand, create a healthcare brand if they have a good idea, and then get able to get small batch of manufacturing and branding, everything, so, you can really really start now,” Kapoor said.
“That’s fuelling a flurry of new brands coming up with interesting products and branding,” he added.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 India Emerging as Growth Engine
Angad Kikla, CEO and founder of Citymall, said while much attention has been on 10-minute deliveries and urban D2C brands, the largest untapped opportunity lies in smaller towns and lower middle-income households.
“In this entire euphoria about 10-minute deliveries, fashion, D2C brands, etc, the largest market in India is low-middle-income people living in tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 towns,” he said.
Kikla noted that grocery, which accounts for roughly 40% of household spending, remains under-penetrated in organised e-commerce models. “Also, the largest category, which is grocery comprising around 40% spending of a household, has been completely ignored. Maybe because infrastructure required to deliver a grocery order at the doorstep profitably has not been made. We (Citymall) have been trying to do that,” he said.
He also pointed to changing consumption patterns driven by digital content exposure. “In the low-middle-class consumer group, there is a lot of aspiration driven by the content proliferation. For example, on our platform, we see a lot of new categories like Korean Noodles, which is one of the largest growing categories being sold on our platform more than normal noodles,” Kikla said.
“So, a lot of aspiration is being driven by content. Our job is to make these aspirations affordable for these consumers,” he added.
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February 28, 2026, 13:41 IST
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