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The India market entry checklist: 10 questions before you spend a rupee

By Ben Tharakan · THX Ventures LLP · August 2026 · 5 min read

Foreign brands usually ask us "how do we enter India?" The better question is "are we ready to?" — because India rewards prepared entrants and quietly taxes improvised ones. After 25 years of importing other people's brands, here are the ten questions we put to every principal before a single container moves.

The checklist

1. Which regulatory gate does your product face? Food is FSSAI. Cosmetics are CDSCO. Electronics are BIS and often a Quality Control Order. Devices are CDSCO with an Authorised Indian Agent. The gate defines your timeline — from four weeks to nine months — and it must be cleared before shipment.
2. Is your label India-legal? Importer details, licence numbers, veg/non-veg marks, MRP under Legal Metrology. Artwork is the cheapest thing to fix early and the most expensive to fix at port.
3. What is your landed cost — with the FTA route checked? Duty compounds (BCD + surcharge + IGST). If you manufacture in the UAE, UK, Oman, Australia or EFTA, a preferential certificate of origin may cut the basic duty sharply. Model both routes before pricing.
4. Who is your importer of record? Your own subsidiary (control, but 3–6 months to operational readiness) or a licensed partner (weeks, and someone else's balance sheet takes the working-capital strain). Most brands should start with the second and graduate to the first.
5. Which channel earns the first year? General Trade moves volume, Modern Trade builds brands, quick commerce is the fastest-growing shelf on earth, HoReCa pays for premium. Sequencing all four beats attacking all four.
6. What is your India price architecture? Indian consumers pay for value at every tier — but the tiers are real. Decide where you sit before a distributor decides for you.
7. How long can your receivables breathe? Channel credit in India runs longer than most markets expect. Fund the cycle or choose partners who do.
8. Who owns your registrations? If a distributor holds your FSSAI or CDSCO registrations, they hold your exit costs. Negotiate ownership and transfer rights on day one — we structure this cleanly because we have seen the alternative.
9. What is the aftercare plan? Returns, near-expiry stock, replacements, service. Entry is an event; aftercare is the business.
10. What does success look like in 24 months? Write the number down — cases, doors, cities. India punishes vague ambitions with vague results.

Score honestly. Eight or more confident answers: enter now, the market is receptive and the FTA calendar is friendly. Fewer than six: spend eight weeks preparing — it is cheaper than a mispriced launch.

Want the answers filled in for your product? The market-entry desk returns a written entry map — gate, timeline, landed cost, channel and structure — within a week. The one-page checklist version is available by email here.