Young Wealth, New Rules

DECODE THE NEWS

Why India's Young Heirs Are Choosing Investing Over Business

Unlike most of his peers who get inducted into the family business, the scion of FMCG business house Marico, Rishabh Mariwala, chose to carve his own path. Long before the beauty segment took off in India, he founded a premium body and bath brand called Soap Opera N More in 2011, and followed up with luxury skin care products under the brand, Pure Sense in 2016. 

While Mariwala’s story comes as a full circle — being an entrepreneur as well as an investor, few seem to be following in his footsteps. In fact, several veteran industrialists like banker Uday Kotak and RPG chairman Harsh Goenka have recently expressed concern over how many young heirs of successful business houses in India are choosing to become ‘only investors’ instead of working in their family businesses or building their own.

Only Investing, No Building

Edelweiss chairman Rashesh Shah pointed out in an interview with The Core that the wealth of the wealthy is not being put to ‘right’ use. And there seems to be a lot. As per Hurun’s 2024 report, India has 1,539 individuals whose wealth exceeds Rs 1,000 crore. Their cumulative wealth increased by 46%, while the average wealth increased by 25%.

“Once they have wealth, people then invest in only growing that. I think people who have wealth should take risks in building business. Investing your wealth to earn an extra half or 1% return, arbitrage on tax may not be the best way to get the best out of the wealth you have now got. I think you should take some risks, build some businesses, and create jobs,” Shah said.

While Kotak wants to see the young wealthy Indians hungry for success, RPG chairman Harsh Goenka said family offices offer a risk-free, stress-free and tan-friendly lifestyle. But for many young super-rich, investments are serious business. 

Wealth managers believe that gatekeeping their vast teeming coffers of the wealthy is necessarily a bad idea

CORE NUMBER

Rs 1 trillion

This is the value Reliance Industries added to investor wealth as shares surged nearly 6%, hitting a six-month high of Rs 1,374.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after better-than-expected March 2025 quarter results. According to the Business Standard report, its market capitalisation rose by Rs 1.01 trillion to Rs 18.60 trillion. The strong Q4FY25 performance was driven by robust growth in retail and telecom, although the oil-to-chemicals division remained under pressure. Brokerages like BNP Paribas, ICICI Securities, and JM Financial maintain a positive outlook, citing strong consumer momentum, new energy projects, and upside from Jio’s future listing and 5G expansion.

—🏦 Offshore Gifts Scrutinised. Wealthy Indian families may hit regulatory roadblocks while gifting offshore wealth. As per an Economic Times report, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has tightened scrutiny under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), disallowing sale proceeds of offshore investments to be gifted to NRIs. Instead, the funds must either be reinvested or repatriated within 180 days. While gifting is permitted under LRS, authorities argue that gifting realised forex creates a regulatory grey zone. With banks and the Enforcement Directorate becoming stricter, such aggressive tax planning tactics abroad are facing a crackdown.

—⚙️ Factory Output Slows. India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 4% in FY25, slowing from 5.9% in FY24, government data showed. IIP measures the monthly performance of sectors like manufacturing, mining, and electricity, and is a key barometer of industrial health. For March 2025 alone, IIP rose 3% YoY. improving slightly from February’s six-month low but lagging the 5.5% growth seen in March 2024. Strong growth in electricity and infrastructure goods was offset by sluggish mining output and a decline in consumer non-durable goods production.

— 🇺🇸 Empty shelves in the US? Almost a month since US President Donald Trump announced his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, American logistics firms say they’ve seen a steep fall in container bookings, per a Financial Times report. Some US importers are using stockpiled goods or they’re diverting shipments through Canada; either way, US consumers will likely see more sparse shelves and increased prices in large retailers like Walmart and Target. Experts foresee the upcoming recession to be worse than the COVID recession, and say that people working in trucking, logistics, and retail could lose their jobs too.

—🤝 China’s Loss, India’s Gain. Some China-based firms, hit hard by steep US tariffs (as high as 245%), are now reaching out to Indian exporters to fill American orders and protect their business ties. Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), told The Core that many US sourcing companies previously reliant on China are now scouting Indian suppliers, including at the Canton Fair happening in Guangzhou, China. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers themselves are partnering with Indian exporters—some for a commission, some simply to maintain goodwill—helping shift global supply chains in India’s favour amid escalating trade tensions.

—➕➖ US Tariffs Help Some Indian Sectors, and Hurt Others. The April 2025 Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India (ICRA) report said that US tariffs could help Indian textiles and chemicals, since they’ll make India’s exports more competitive than China, Bangladesh and Vietnam. On the other hand, other sectors like metals, auto components and cut and polished diamonds could experience losses. In particular, tariffs could reduce the operating profits of Indian auto component exporters by Rs 2,700-4,500 crores. That’s 10-15% of their profits, and 3-6% of the overall industry’s profits. Though Trump has currently paused his previously-announced 26% tariff on India for 90 days, exporters still have to pay a duty of 10%. The report also mentioned that though India will experience challenges in the long-term, US’s tariffs on China could help improve India’s competitiveness and help the country in the medium term.

THE MEDIA ROOM

When The Content Is Good, People Will Pay, Says EYs Ashish Pherwani On India's Changing Media Landscape

Last year, digital media well and truly overtook TV in terms of audiences and revenues. The Indian media landscape is also changing as OTT platforms rule the roost and big theatres are struggling to get people to pay to watch films. 

The FICCI-EY Media & Industry Report — that maps the shape, size and texture of India's media and entertainment business — showed that the in 2024 the Indian media and entertainment business stood at Rs 2.5 lakh crore or just over $29 billion. That's a growth of about 3.3%  over 2023, a big fall from the 8.3% the previous year.

Ashish Pherwani, EY India’s Media & Entertainment leader, told journalist Kohli-Khandekar that 2024 was the year that digital finally took over TV. "Digital crossed Rs 80,000 crore in total revenues, Rs 70,000 crore of advertising and about Rs 10,000 crore of subscription income, and became the largest segment of India's media and entertainment industry. Digital is now 32% of all revenues of the country in the sector." 

But as digital grows, other forms, such as cinema, are taking a hit. Pherwani pointed out that last year, movies were either big hits or they did not make much at the box office. One of the key takeaways, according to Pherwani, was good content. 

"I think one is very clearly that when the content is good, it doesn't matter what the medium, that gets the revenue. So whether you look at IPL, or you look at some of the shows on OTT platforms, or you look at some of the films, if your content is good, people are willing to pay. And that has never been proved more than in the last year," Pherwani said. 

PODCAST

On Episode 568 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Neil Shah, Vice President Research & Co- Founder at Counterpoint Research.

• Sensex hits a 2025 year high of 80322

• Reliance shares jump as markets rerate stock

• Gold prices moderate as traders await cues from trade talks

• Chinese companies are cutting commission deals with Indian exporters for their orders

• Apple could move a substantial part of iphone production to India. Decoding the move

👥 THE TEAM

✍️ Zinal Dedhia, Salman SH, Kudrat Wadhwa | ✂️ Rohini Chatterji | 🎧 Joshua Thomas