India remains a bright spot for consumption despite global uncertainty, says Tata Sons’ Chandrasekaran

MUMBAI: India remains a “bright spot” for consumer-goods companies despite global uncertainty and rising input costs, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday, arguing that the country’s demographic advantages and expanding infrastructure continue to underpin growth.

The comments come as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies increasingly rely on pricing-led growth amid higher raw-material, packaging and transportation costs. Against that backdrop, Tata Consumer Products Ltd is expanding into newer categories, digital channels and premium offerings as it seeks to sustain growth and improve profitability.

Tata Sons is the holding company and promoter of all Tata Group companies.

“India remains bright spot in the world, and continues to be the fastest growing major economy, primarily led by demographic strength, expanding physical and digital infrastructure,” Chandrasekaran said at the company’s 63rd annual general meeting.

He added that the company has successfully reimagined itself as a multi-category FMCG player from a tea and salt player. Tata Consumer reported revenue of ₹20,290 crore in FY26, up 15% from a year earlier, and now ranks among India’s top 10 FMCG companies, according to managing director and chief executive officer Sunil D’Souza.

The company’s growth businesses, which include brands Sampann, Capital Foods, Organic India, Soulfull and Ready to Drink, grew 24% during the year and now account for more than 30% of its India portfolio. It reported an reported an Ebitda margin of 13.9%.

“The company in medium term will look at 17%, and eventually the goal is to cross 20% Ebitda margin, and there has to be an improvement of 50 to 100 bps,” Chandrasekaran said. “In a good year, 100 bps. In another year, 50 bps at least,” he said.

For comparison, Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever reported Ebitda margins above 20% in FY26.

Tata Consumer ended FY26 with a cash balance of ₹2,978 crore. E-commerce and quick commerce contributed 19% of the India business and grew 62% in FY26. The company also completed the remodelling of its supply chain for salt and non-salt distributors during the year.

Growth bets

Beyond e-commerce and general trade, Tata Consumer has identified pharmacies, vending machines and food services as new growth channels. For Q4FY26, the segments exited with an annual run rate of ₹30 crore, ₹100 crore and ₹170 crore, respectively.

The company also remains bullish on Starbucks in India.

“Starbucks has 502 stores, and our plan is to add 50 to 100 stores a year,” Chandra said. “We have had discussions with our partner, and we think eventually the company can have 8,000 stores in India,” he said.

Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd reported revenue from operations of ₹1,367 crore during the year, up 7% from the previous year. The Starbucks entity was Ebitda positive in the financial year, according to management.

Chandrasekaran also pointed to resilience across consumer segments.

“I think we are both a mass market and the premium market, so we have multiple customer segments, so we need to address the needs of all the customer segments, and so we will launch mass market products as well as the premium products,” he said.

The company typically spends 2.4%-2.5% of turnover on capital expenditure. However, spending is set to rise in FY27.

“This year, in FY27, the company is going to spend more money because there is an additional one-off tea extraction unit that is being put up. As a result, the company’s budget for FY27 is going to be about 700 crores,” Chandrasekaran said.