Exhibition World Supplements India Supplement | страница 13

India
Market mover’s new alignment
EW speaks to Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director for Informa Markets,
India, about the company’s strategy and activity
hat are the attractions
of the Indian
exhibition market for
international organisers?
India presents a lucrative exhibitions
market to the international
organiser. It is one of the fastest
growing large economies with
immense potential. Its teeming
population and modernisation
continues to create a rapidly
increasing consumer base and
a growing internal demand that
international organisations can
match with the supply.
Is partnering with local suppliers
and exhibition professionals a
good strategy, compared to cloning
or outright acquisition? What are
the pros and cons there in India?
From the experience we have had in
our organisation, there’s been a fair
mix of successfully implementing
outright acquisition as well as geo-
cloning.
In the case of acquisitions, one has
to be very careful as there is a rather
high chance of things not working
out as hoped - it all depends on the
right price to acquire the target
company or show that should make
good sense in the Indian market.
Given that we have experience with
both, our recent trend has been to
opt for geo-cloning from our vast
repertoire of pedigreed brands from
within the Informa Group. We have
the distinct advantage of having
industry leading shows known
globally and we have been eminently
successful in geo-cloning shows like
Cosmoprof, Food and Hospitality
India, Propak India and our calendar
next year, too, will be replete with
some big ones like India Health.
While acquisitions need a large
capital investment to begin with
and can be a challenge unless there
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
While Mumbai and Delhi-NCR
host a big number of national shows,
regional centres like Hyderabad,
Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad
are also popular.
Some of the key venues in India
where we organise our shows are
the India Expo Mart Limited (IEML),
Greater Noida; Pragati Maidan, New
Delhi; the Bombay Exhibition Centre,
Mumbai; HITEX, Hyderabad and
TNTPO, Chennai.
is a fair bit of hand-holding by the
existing team, geo-cloning is as
good as getting a new show on the
anvil. However, it definitely comes
with positives of a strong brand and
thereby, loyalty factor from clients.
What are some of the challenges
to be aware of in India and how
do the regulations from state to
state vary. Which are the leading
venues?
Over the years, we have realised
that uncertainty is indeed the
certainty in India as you are always
dealing with it – be it venue dates,
potential elections, approvals,
intervention from nodal agencies
and this necessitates us to always
have an alternate Plan B and C in
place. While the OCTROI [local tax]
was a deterrent earlier, with the GST
centralisation in place, there is no
critical regulations that vary from
state to state. And, of course, while
industrialisation levels vary from
state to state, most states provide
ease of doing business. After all,
being high on the state index is a big
draw for the business fraternity and
creates a win-win situation.
Above:
India
presents
a lucrative
exhibitions
market,
says
Yogesh
Mudras
What trends are to be observed in
your business in India and what
are Informa’s goals?
Informa Markets in India (formerly
UBM India) is India’s leading
exhibition organiser, and we
continue to be the fastest growing,
while championing the specialist
markets and customer communities
with our 360-degree services in
exhibitions, digital content and
services, and conferences and
seminars.
As for trends, we see a great
alignment and synergy between
different divisions of Informa, for
mutual benefit and enhancement.
There is an increased industry
wise verticalisation, stemming
from a particular industry to build
a specialist marketplace and this
encourages the growth of vertical
experts.
With our grand global legacy
and wide reach of 35 countries, we
intend continuing our rapid pace
of growth in existing events while
adding new ones to our repertoire to
close in on the gaps we can visualise
for India.
There is always going to be a
focus on ours being a knowledge-
driven organisation prioritising
technology, sustainability, and best
practices for the core growth of
India.
Supplement
13