Decentralising customer understanding key for Indian exporters: Lakshmi Venu

Lakshmi Venu, Vice Chairman, TAFE Ltd, at the 5th National Exports Competitiveness Summit 2026, organised by the CII, in Chennai. | Photo Credit: BIJOY GHOSH

As India seeks to up its export game through bilateral deals and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), it is critical for Indian companies to have a better understanding of their customer base in global markets, said Lakshmi Venu, managing director of Sundaram-Clayton and Vice Chairman of TAFE. 

Venu was speaking at the 5th National Export Competitiveness Summit, 2026, here on Tuesday. 

Addressing the event, Venu said that while Indian exporters have performed appreciably in the B2B segment, they can do much more in the B2C segment. 

“As we look to build the brand India worldwide,  the goal must be to build customer intimacy on the ground. We need to add value and create stickiness by decentralising our customer understanding and building depth globally. This can be done by creating cross-functional teams that spend disproportionate time with customers globally,” she said. 

Venu also emphasised the need for building a strong  Intellectual Property ecosystem and partnerships with global and local startups for companies to adapt and co-develop for international markets. 

At the summit, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), expressed the government’s focus to build local manufacturing ecosystems for both the domestic and export market.  

R Mukundan, President CII and MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals, said that for India to achieve its economic goals of $30 trillion, more than $7 trillion should come from exports. “This growth should be balanced between both the sectors that we have an historic edge in and also new sectors that will be critical across the globe going forward,” he said. 

Published on February 24, 2026