The key to success

Opening an Indian office has never been easier for multinational and foreign-domiciled companies. New rules have further expedited the process and created greater transparency

George W Russell reports from Bangalore

Even the most innovative multinational companies sometimes have to tread well-worn paths. In April, Don Faul, director of global online operations at Facebook, jetted into Hyderabad to oversee the opening of the internet social network’s first Asia office.

It was a meeting of giants – India is home to 1.1 billion people and Facebook is an online second home to more than 400 million – and underscored the view that an office in India is a necessary undertaking for companies with global ambitions. “The market potential has always dragged foreigners in to open an office in India,” says KV Omprakash, director of the Conscientia consultancy in Bangalore.

“In India alone, we’ve seen rapid growth,” says Faul, who is based at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (In the year to March 2010 the number of Facebook users in India rose 400%, the seventh highest growth rate worldwide). “We now have more than 8 million people there actively connecting on Facebook with their friends, family, and other people they know.”