Luxury Booms and Startups Soar, Indian Economy Transforms

A Tale of Two Indians

MUMBAI, India — In the gleaming showrooms of Mumbai, a businessman recently made a decision that would have been unusual here just a few years ago. He wasn’t haggling for a discount. Instead, he placed an order for a Franck Muller watch with intricate, India-inspired motifs, part of a new collection that the Swiss watchmaker expects will help drive an 11% surge in its sales this year .

A few hundred miles away, in a more modest office, Vaibhav Gupta was also thinking about growth. As the chief executive of Udaan, a business-to-commerce startup, he had just secured $114 million in fresh funding and was steering his company toward a public listing, telling his team the capital would help them achieve “growth with profitability at scale” .

These two pursuits – one of luxury, the other of market share – might seem unrelated. But they are twin engines of the same transformation. As India enters its most festive season, a period of weddings and religious celebrations, the country’s economy is revealing a new identity. The taste for luxury has moved beyond the country’s major cities, and a new generation of businesses is learning to profit not just by growing fast, but by growing smart .

The New Luxury Playground

Luxury retailers in India are bracing for a season of record sales, with forecasts pointing to a double-digit surge in growth compared to last year. The early onset of the festive season, coupled with an extended wedding calendar, has created a fertile environment for luxury spending .

Global brands are no longer just shipping their international collections to India. They are now tailoring offerings to Indian tastes in a way that was once unthinkable, seeing the country as a crucial growth engine as sales in other markets slow .

The Spanish porcelain house Lladró, for instance, has unveiled a limited-edition Lord Ram sculpture, crafted in collaboration with Arun Yogiraj, the renowned sculptor of the Ram temple idol in Ayodhya. It will also launch a Diwali-exclusive Lord Ganesha sculpture, premiering in India before it appears anywhere else in the world.

The data supports the optimism. Swiss watch exports to India rose 12.7% in the first half of 2025, even as exports to major markets like China and Hong Kong fell sharply. With expanding boutique networks, brands expect even stronger revenues this Diwali season.

Major fashion houses like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Bvlgari are pivoting towards India’s booming wedding economy, seeing it as the biggest opportunity of 2025, thanks to an unusually high number of auspicious wedding dates .

The Startup Path to Profitability

If the luxury boom is one side of India’s economic story, the other is playing out in the world of startups, where the era of growth at any cost is giving way to a new discipline.

Udaan’s recent fundraising and its deliberate path to an initial public offering exemplify this shift. The company, which connects small retailers with suppliers, has raised over $1.95 billion since its founding in 2016. But the narrative is no longer just about how much money it can spend, but how efficiently it can operate .

The company has cut its core operational loss, known as Ebitda burn, by 40% annually over the last three years and is on track to achieve profitability at the group level within the next 18 months. In the last fiscal year, Udaan reduced its net loss by 19% even as revenue saw a slight increase, a sign that cost discipline is taking hold .

This focus on “profitable growth” is not unique to Udaan. It reflects a broader maturation in the Indian startup ecosystem, where investors are now rewarding sustainable business models over rapid, cash-burning expansion .

The following table outlines key details of Udaan’s current position and future plans:

A Convergence of Confidence

What ties the luxury surge and the startup story together is a deepening sense of confidence in India’s economic future. This is not a trend, but a Massive shift.

The government’s policy moves, such as GST rate cuts, have put more discretionary income into the hands of consumers, boosting confidence across sectors . At the same time, the strategic consolidation in the startup world, like Udaan’s recent all-stock acquisition of retail technology startup ShopKirana, shows a market that is building durable, long-term structures rather than chasing short-term gains .

For global brands, India is no longer just an afterthought. According to analysts at DLF Luxury Malls, luxury brands are eyeing double-digit sales growth in India this festive season. Globally, luxury growth is forecast at a more modest 6.5–8%, underlining India’s role as a new comer in growth .

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The Road Ahead

The coming months will test this new economic vision. For the luxury market, the challenge will be to sustain this momentum beyond the festive season. For startups like Udaan, the goal is to prove to public market investors that a once-high-flying startup can be both a growth company and a profitable one.

But for now, the signs are hard to ignore. From the assembly lines of suppliers feeding Udaan’s vast network to the workshops of Swiss watchmakers crafting their India-exclusive designs, businesses are betting that the Indian consumer and the Indian entrepreneur have finally arrived on the global stage.

The story is no longer just about potential. It is about a market that is ready to spend, and companies that are learning to last.

Author: Junaid Arif
Date: 8 Oct, 2025

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