Next wave of growth will come from smaller towns, say India Inc entrepreneurs

India’s next phase of economic and digital expansion will be powered by smaller towns and cities, say some of the country’s most influential startup founders. Speaking at CNBC-TV18’s Global Leadership Summit on a panel titled “The Billion Dollar Babies,” Former G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant joined Swiggy’s Phani Addepalli, Lenskart’s Peyush Bansal, Urban Company’s Abhiraj Singh Bhal, and PolicyBazaar Fintech’s Yashish Dahiya to discuss the evolving roadmap for India’s startup ecosystem.

A common theme across the discussion was a pivot toward Bharat’s hinterland, where rising digital access and aspirational demand are creating new consumer markets.

“Swiggy completes three to four million deliveries a day, and its next phase of growth is coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities,” said co-founder Phani Addepalli. Swiggy, he said, is expanding beyond food into groceries, ticketing and travel, positioning itself as an “operating system for daily life.”

He cited the example of a homemaker in a smaller city using Instamart to access products not available locally. “It’s about access, convenience and affordability,” he said.

For Lenskart, technology has been key to scale, said CEO Peyush Bansal. The company has used AI-powered self-testing devices to overcome India’s shortage of optometrists. With operations across 14 countries — from Southeast Asia to Japan — 40% of its revenue now comes from overseas. “If you’ve been using technology for a decade, now is the time to take that extra superpower of AI and make it 10x,” Bansal said.

Urban Company has trained over 60,000 service professionals to deliver consistent, doorstep services in home cleaning, beauty and repairs. “We want to be in every middle-class Indian household,” said CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal. The company uses AI to monitor service quality and operates in over 50 cities, with presence in Singapore and the Middle East.

PB Fintech has sold over 20 million health and term insurance policies. But building trust took time, said Chairman Yashish Dahiya. “The consumer was not educated,” he noted. Today, 75% of its new growth comes from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, compared to 20% eight years ago.

The takeaway is that India’s next growth story is shifting outside the metros. Rising aspirations, digital access and product innovation — backed by strong governance — could help India’s leading startups build globally competitive businesses while serving millions across the country’s heartland.