Salesforce India growth decelerates but revenue may hit $1 bn this year

US-based customer relationship management (CRM) giant Salesforce that has been growing at a breakneck speed in India with annual growth rate pegged at around 70% over the last eight years, saw a deceleration in the country last year, albeit still clocking above average growth numbers. 
 
Indeed, even if the firm decelerates further, as is natural with any company that gains scale, given the momentum, it is likely to breach the $1 billion (₹8,300 crore) mark in the country in the year ending March 2024, as per numbers collated by TechCircle. 
 
The company clocked 50.2% growth in FY23 with revenues hitting ₹6,590 crore. Net profit too jumped in tandem to ₹635 crore, as per information compiled by data platform VCCEdge. 
 
Notably, the growth rate was the lowest in last eight years but the company managed to marginally push up its net margins, though it stayed shy of the double digit mark. 
 
 
 
In a statement, the firm attributed this growth to the rising number of Indian companies investing in digital transformation and utilising generative artificial intelligence (AI).  
  
Arundhati Bhattacharya, CEO and Chairperson, Salesforce India, said that India is a key market for Salesforce. “We are fully focused on supporting India’s economic growth through our role as a trusted digital advisor to businesses up and down the country. Salesforce is committed to investing in the region, unlocking local opportunities and, in turn, helping to transform businesses globally,” she said.  
  
The company also plans to expand its office presence in Bengaluru and actively hire talent for roles across technology and product, sales, business support and customer success. It currently has 10,000 employees in India, across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Pune and Jaipur.  
  
The company serves Indian enterprises including TVS Motor, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Atomberg, helping them develop digital strategies that enhance productivity, efficiency, and customer interactions.  
  
Salesforce's growth in India is supported by a robust ecosystem of strategic partners, startups, over two million Salesforce developers, and a large user base of Trailhead, Salesforce's online learning platform. 
  
Bhattacharya, who joined as local head after retiring from state-run State Bank of India, said: “I look forward to the next phase of the company's journey.” 
  
To be sure, Zoho India, another enterprise software and tech company, experienced a 37% increase in business in 2022, despite the economy's trend of reduced IT and tech spending. CEO Sridhar Vembu shared this news at Zoholics, the company's annual conference, held last month. As a result, India has become Zoho's fastest-growing market.  
  
Freshworks, which is into CRM solutions, had clocked 34% revenue growth last year. 
 
According to a report by market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) published on 2 August, enterprise applications software, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), office suites, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, analytics, and collaboration platforms, is projected to generate $483 billion in global revenue by 2027, growing at a 10% CAGR. It attributes this growth to investments in public cloud services and increased adoption of AI technologies.