India is becoming a popular destination for foreigners
Every morning, Jose Leon, 33, rides his two-wheeler to work in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills area, covering a distance of 10 km in under 30 minutes. “While driving in India, I only think of surviving,” he says with a straight face. “But it is not that dangerous once you get a hang of it,” adds the Costa Rican, who moved to India to start a business two years ago.
Leon runs a medical transportation startup called StanPlus, essentially an Uber for ambulances, with his INSEAD batchmate Prabhdeep Singh. Navigating the bylanes of Hyderabad helps him familiarise himself with the new place, makes him feel less like an outsider.
Amid a slew of MNCs that are looking at India, foreigners like Leon are an anomaly. For foreign individuals, “India is still not considered a lucrative destination to set up large-scale businesses,” says chartered accountant Amit Maheshwari, whose firm Ashok Maheshwary & Associates specialises in business advisory for foreign firms and individuals. Bureaucratic delays, frequent regulatory changes in certain sectors and lack of investor trust dampen their spirits.
“You see an uptick largely in the food and beverages segment, where foreigners set up restaurants or food supply businesses to cater to their community of expats in India,” he adds.