Why do entrepreneurs come back to India?

There is hardly anything you can deny about India. India is a large market, India is a small market, India has opportunities, India doesn't have the right attitude- almost anything can be viewed at from an angle and argued to be true. In this nation of diversity, we always try and paint a rosy picture even though people are bent on shorting India. Yes, the conditions are adverse but isn't adversity what drives an entrepreneur?

Out of the huge pool of entrepreneurs coming up in the last couple of years, there are many who have been in the US or studied their but now have come back to India. There are multiple reasons why an entrepreneur or for that matter, anyone else does this:

• First and foremost remains the nationalistic pride. Many of us still harbour this feeling of moving back to India and doing something for the nation.
• Family concerns. Many a times, a person moves back because his or her family is in India and they'd like to spend more time with their families.
• Market opportunity. Many would argue against this point but well, India is a nation of 1.3 billion people and you can always find your market here.

Adi Jain, the founder of Studycopter moved to India after setting up his company in the US. "A desire to make a change is certainly a big component of the move-to-india-logic, if not the only reason," says Adi. "I figured my strengths lie not in community organizing or in lofty policy making, traditional avenues that one associates with nation building, but in building a thriving, money making business that foments social change through an impactful business model for all stakeholders," he adds.

Coming back to India does put many into a culture shock- bad roads, poor sanitation, unruly traffic, an absence of civic responsibilities- but there is that sense of 'home'. Gaurav Mantri, the founder of Cerebrata (sold off the company) decribes his journey well in this article about his home coming. "The key is to adjust and adapt," he writes.

Mitesh Bohra, the founder of Pune based Savetime had spent a lot of time in the US before he came to India for a visit. Looking at the state of healthcare in the nation, he decided to shift back and contribute his bit. Opportunity+ Family was his reason.

There are lot of Indians who move to the US and settle down. There are a few who don't adjust and come back but the 'good life' pulls in most and then they get used to the life. Once settled, the aforementioned three reasons remain the primary ones when someone decides to come back to India and there isn't anything really romantic about it.

Doing a business remains hard in India, the challenges are multifold and of nature you wouldn't have expected but again, when did entrepreneurs start thinking small. Today, on Independence Day, we'd like to believe India is shining with opportunities and invite entrepreneurs and people all over to come and startup in India!