India, future market: “Reliable partnerships are immensely important”

What advantages and synergies does the collaboration offer? What additional benefits does this bring to your customers?

Schiller: Jeena is a ‘True Local Hero’: The colleagues know the regional customs and local peculiarities, have contact persons in all areas and, of course, have an extensive network and know-how. This gives us and our customers the best possible access to the Indian market, which is not always easy.

In addition, I see explicit advantages over the large multinationals, which have their own offices in (almost) every country in the world. In the area of customs, for example, Jeena has its own customs department. While the large multinationals almost always must rely on external brokers, we can offer our customers the entire range of supply chain services together with Jeena.

Katgara: Working together gives both organizations the opportunity to understand each other’s culture, business and cultural nuances, which is a huge benefit for everyone involved.

In addition, both organizations strongly believe that the way business will be conducted in the future will be digital. Accordingly, we have invested heavily in new technologies to provide our customers with an exemplary service experience that will raise expectations for our industry as a whole.

Mr. Katgara, the situation in India is currently very tense. What impact does the pandemic have on your day-to-day business? How are you responding to the situation?

Katgara: We, as one of the largest freight forwarders in India, have been classified as an “Essential Service Bracket”, which means we have been exempted from many measures and can continue to operate unhindered.

This helps us to support trade, however our frontline colleagues at the port, airport and warehouse or customs are at risk. We have the utmost respect for our employees, who are all working hard to keep the business running. We are, of course, doing our part by currently vaccinating the entire workforce in our offices.

India is still suffering from the consequences of the pandemic – at the same time, the shortage of freight capacity has led to a huge increase in freight rates. Should companies enter the market now?

Katgara: Freight rates have fallen in recent years and have even been driven down to the point where shipping companies and airlines have gone bankrupt. This initial situation has strongly influenced the current capacity shortage.

Currently, a market entry is certainly associated with obstacles. Newcomers must be cost-sensitive at first, which is difficult at current freight rates. In addition, they lack the influence to get slots allocated at all. The current external circumstances are a challenge to which decision-makers must adapt. Nevertheless, we advise European companies to explore the many opportunities in India and to determine their own potential. Of course, we are happy to assist with our know-how and wholly support interested companies.

Schiller: An entry should always be well considered and strategically planned. Irrespective of this, however, India has enormous potential both as a procurement and sales market: the economy is growing continuously and the age structure in India promises both profitable sales opportunities and a dedicated workforce for production.

In addition, India can be an interesting alternative to China for companies to broaden their own business. In any case, it is advisable for companies to examine the Indian market for possible activities – we are happy to support here.