A KPMG study a few years ago estimated that family businesses accounted for two-thirds of India’s GDP. That’s pretty much in line with trends in the US where family businesses account for roughly 64 percent of the GDP.
The difference, though, may be that while in the US some 35 percent of the top 500 companies are family-controlled, in India, that figure would be over 70 percent. So while the Ambanis, Birlas, Godrejs, Piramals et al are familiar names on the Indian business landscape, little is known about the thousands of largely unlisted universe of family-owned businesses doing their bit for economic growth, job creation and the country’s entrepreneurial fabric.
(This story appears in the 02 March, 2018 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)