On his latest journey through India, Peter Paul Pratter gathered impressions and insights that go beyond economic figures and headlines. In the fifth edition of his column, „India Rising – Der Wirtschaftsblick“, he reflects on what he observed along the way. A personal perspective on India’s economic transformation and the forces driving it.
I recently returned to Bengaluru. It has been a while since I last set foot in this part of India. I was excited to see how much the city has changed, to soak up the energy, and to hear first-hand how people feel about stronger collaboration and partnerships with Europe.
It was great to be back and once again very eye-opening, so let me share a little bit of what I’ve experienced this time.
Change is visible
First of all I arrived at the brand-new terminal at Bengaluru airport. I knew about this development and was super excited to experience it after rather mixed experiences at the prior terminal, and my excitement was not understated. It is a beautiful brand-new building and infrastructure with highly sustainable metrics such as timber structures and water features. An overall highly modern infrastructure and in many areas more advanced to what you know from European airports.
You then leave the airport by driving on brand-new roads, at least until you reach the city perimeters. During that ride, you can see metro lines and pillars full of concrete erected to help solve Bengaluru’s traffic issues. As I found out during discussions with friends, these metro lines are to become operational in phases over the next two years after several delays.
Soaking up the energy
My week started with catching up with old friends and contacts that I’ve made over time and that I finally got to meet in person. From those in-depth discussions I can certainly share that an increasing number of Indians think Europe is considered one of India’s future partners. India is developing fast, and the growing interest from outside India for stronger ties is getting noticed. The willingness to collaborate is not only due to such opportunity, but grounded in what India can bring to the table. While challenges obviously exist, and are openly talked about and shared, people are confident about India’s potential.
Nonetheless, this potential is often confronted with misunderstandings on the European side, such as underestimating time to market, speed of decision making, and the way how business is done in India. That remains exactly the reason why I started India Rising in the first place. We Europeans need to understand what’s happening on the ground.
The technology sector is thriving
One of the main reasons why I decided to come to Bengaluru this time of the year was Zinnov Confluence, India’s largest Technology and Global Capability Center (GCC) conference. Over 6000 participants, from local and global businesses to state governments from Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, or Uttar Pradesh, all joined to discuss the latest in Tech, AI, and the role of GCCs. I was highly impressed not only by the way it was organised and set up, but once again how much value and innovation is created from the GCCs in all types of sectors.
These are technological developments that are driven from India for India, and the world. I hosted a master class for European businesses on the opportunity in AI, and the insights I gathered were substantial. European players from the banking industry, medtech, consumer brands, technology, telecommunication, and automotive shared how they leverage their India GCCs, particularly in driving cross-border AI developments. The often challenged legislative environment around AI was not considered an obstacle, but an actual matter of common sense especially in fields with sensitive data environments such as personal, or medical data. Handling those properly is an advantage and one that India GCCs can cover to a high extent too.
It was once again proof that Germany and Europe overall has great synergies with India.
Challenges remain
So while these are a lot of positive takeaways, challenges certainly exist and are openly discussed. It also became obvious that many business leaders have had mixed experiences with German and European counterparts when it comes to the speed of decision-making, misunderstanding India’s potential and capabilities, and so forth, and I think this is a clear bottleneck that needs to be resolved. Those that have experience in collaborating with US businesses see clear differences and certainly claim that Europe needs to step up and accelerate if they want to have a seat at the table. When I look at India’s opportunities, substantially higher investments from East Asia, Singapore, or the US in the country compared to Europe, and therefore increasing competition, I honestly share this opinion.
Nonetheless, locals also shared that Bengaluru is a victim of its own success. Real estate prices and rents are skyrocketing, the cost of living is increasing, and this impacts young crowds in particular. Traffic remains a major issue, and limited availability of commercial space creates bottlenecks for new business entries and for public real estate development — hospitals, schools — alike.
There is a lot to share, report, and talk about. But I can only recommend seeing it with your own eyes.
Sources: Recordings and Key Notes from Zinnov Confluence 2026
Editor‚s Note: Peter Paul Pratter is a business and real estate strategist, founder of the India Rising platform, and a columnist for theinder.net since 2026 (Press release).
