Journalism of Courage
‘India isn’t a cheaper version of US’: Anupam Mittal explains why global tech companies struggle in India
Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal says AI companies must understand India’s value-conscious consumers before setting pricing and plans for the market.
Mittal says Indian consumers have already reshaped telecom, payments and entertainment by demanding better value and innovation.
Entrepreneur Anupam Mittal believes India has a way of exposing weak pricing strategies, especially when global companies assume they can simply adapt their international models for Indian consumers.
In a recent LinkedIn post, the Shaadi.com founder and Shark Tank India investor said many global tech companies initially entered India by converting their dollar prices into rupees. But Indian consumers quickly pushed back, using everything from shared subscriptions and extended free trials to jugaad-driven workarounds to avoid paying for products they did not consider essential.
Mittal said he learned this lesson while building Shaadi.com. For Indian consumers, the key question is often simple: “Bhai, isse mera kya hoga?” In other words, people want to know exactly what they are getting in return before they are willing to spend.
According to Mittal, India cannot be treated as a lower-priced version of the US. Companies that tried to replicate their American strategies here often found that Indian consumers expected much more value for their money.
He believes AI companies are now discovering the same reality as they introduce India-specific pricing and plans.
“As AI companies roll out India-specific plans, I think they are being schooled in value,” Mittal wrote.
Mittal pointed out that this behaviour has already influenced sectors such as telecom, payments and entertainment, where consumers have pushed companies to offer better value and innovate around their needs.
“Now AI gets its turn,” he concluded.
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His post has since sparked a discussion on whether AI companies can really price their products effectively without first showing users exactly what they stand to gain.
One social media user argued that AI faces a problem that telecom and payments did not. “What’s interesting about AI specifically is that the ‘outcome’ isn’t always obvious yet, even to the companies selling it. Telecom and payments succeeded here because the value was immediate and legible, cheaper calls, easier transfers. AI’s value is still fuzzy for most users. Is it saving time, replacing a task, teaching a skill? Whoever nails that clarity for the Indian market will probably also nail the pricing, because the two aren’t separable.”
Another commenter said the bigger challenge for AI companies is figuring out where their products can deliver real value. “Finding the Right use case for the right company is a big challenge for AI products. That mostly involves understanding the domain, the internal company process and more.”
“The ‘Bhai, isse mera kya hoga?’ test is probably one of the toughest pricing filters in the world. India forces companies to prove value at the point of payment. That pressure can make the product better for everyone,” a third person added.
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