In India, Messe Düsseldorf is present at the two most important trade fair locations: New Delhi and Mumbai, and with that at a business location, that promises enormous growth potential in many fields. 1.2 billion people live in India, with the middle class and the highly qualified group growing rapidly. With 362 inhabitants per square kilometer, India is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The county's industry is on a modernization course and is in need of state-of-the-art machinery, equipment and services. This means good opportunities for globally active businesses, also in the short term.

India is a market of superlatives: annual growth rates exceeding 7% will, for the first time in 2019, provide the country with a GDP of more than US$ 3 billion. With an above-average number of young inhabitants of more than 1.3 billion, the sub-continent will soon be the country with the world’s largest population. Increasing urbanization and development of modern retail concepts continue to boost consumption. And a substantially growing middle class with increasing income is looking for modern, flexible and sustainable packaging solutions.

For all major branches of the packaging and processing industry this means enormous business potential. From 2015 to 2020 the turnover of the packaging industry in India is set to increase annually by 18% - to US$ 73 billion. In 2015 the per capita consumption of packaging in India was just 8.6kg. As a comparison: in China in the same year this was 20kg, in Germany 42kg, in the USA even 71kg – there is therefore still a way to go! In 2025 the consumer-happy and discerning middle class in India will number more than 500 million. Modern retail concepts will increasingly facilitate their access to products packed to a high quality.

The food industry benefits in particular from this development. India is the second largest producer worldwide of agricultural products, but the level of food processing is comparatively low. More than 90% of basic household products are unpackaged, huge quantities of food deteriorate on the way from field to supermarket. The Indian government has reacted by investing virtually US$ 1 billion in food processing over the next few years. This promises great sales potential for foreign companies as well.

India’s pharmaceuticals industry already today counts among the largest in the world. An increasing population and improved medical care provide it with an annual growth of 18% until 2020. Thanks to improved production processes, representatives of the industry also want to export high quality products to the whole world. With annual growth rates of 5.5%, these developments again provide for the fastest growing market internationally for pharmaceuticals packaging until 2019.