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India contributes just 4-5% to the global wellness industry despite being home to nearly 18% of the world’s population — a gap that Shivam Puri, Managing Director and CEO of Cipla Health, called both “a pity” and a wake-up call for marketers.
Speaking at the e4m Health & Wellness Marketing Conference 2025, Puri said the industry is underperforming not due to lack of demand, but due to the failure of brands to understand and connect with the evolving Indian consumer. Puri urged healthcare marketers to stop dismissing the industry’s small size and instead start thinking like FMCG giants to unlock the next wave of growth.
“We say penetration is low, but it’s not because consumers don’t want these products—it’s because we haven’t cracked the code on how to talk to them,” he said. Puri’s address challenged marketers to drop their “defensive” attitudes and instead think like FMCG brands, driven by consumer empathy and storytelling rooted in cultural truth.
India to Add Another India in 10 Years
Highlighting the scale of opportunity ahead, Puri noted that India’s GDP, which recently touched $4 trillion, is expected to double by 2035. “The India that was built over the last 75 years will be built again in the next ten.
That’s how fast this country is moving,” he said.
This growth will be fuelled by a massive boom in the middle class. “What took 30 years in terms of adding middle-class households will now happen in 10,” he said, adding that by 2035, this segment could exceed the total economy size of the U.S. For health and wellness brands, this is the biggest market expansion in decades—if they choose to act on it.
Puri pointed to the Mahakumbh, which saw 45 crore people gather with zero marketing spend or influencer outreach, as a masterclass in cultural cohesion. “If these were your consumers and you were the brand, could you create such a magnetic pull?” he asked, urging brands to tap into India’s cultural codes rather than over-relying on digital gimmicks.
He critiqued the industry’s habit of creating English campaigns and dubbing them into regional languages. “Think Telugu, don’t just translate to Telugu,” he said, calling for a true localisation mindset if brands are to unlock the real Bharat.
Wellness Products Still Not Seen as Aspirational
The lack of consumer-first thinking in healthcare marketing was another area Puri strongly criticised. He pointed out that male intimate care products have just 5% penetration and iron supplements like SanMax stand at 18%, despite being essential categories. “ORS has only 11 calories, it’s perfect for fatigue and recovery, but we still position it as a sugar-salt mix. That’s where we lose the consumer,” he said.
Puri stressed that brands in the wellness space need to pay attention to taste, packaging, fragrance, and user experience—just as any successful FMCG brand would. “A product can be compliant and clinically effective, but if it doesn’t deliver a good consumer experience, it won’t go anywhere.”
He cited Cipla Health’s own journey—from zero to 24 brands in under a decade, achieving tenfold growth—as evidence that large-scale, profitable businesses can be built in wellness. “We’re a very profitable company today.
We didn’t exist ten years ago,” he said. Among its brands, Ciphands and Nicotex have become category leaders by combining consumer insight with consistent, long-term storytelling.
The Way Forward
Puri’s message was clear: India’s wellness industry remains small only because it has been kept small. “We often say the consumer is the problem—the elephant that won’t move. But maybe we’re not empathising enough with that elephant,” he said. Instead of blaming low uptake, he urged marketers to build trust, deliver relevance, and invest for the long haul.
“Healthcare is not just about careers. If you succeed, India becomes healthier,” he said in closing. “And if 45 crore people can gather without a single ad, imagine what’s possible when your brand actually gets it right.
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