Business Dress Code in India

Men tend to wear smart, but comfortable and cool clothing.
Any foreign businessman should wear a lightweight suit when visiting although ties are not compulsory except in more traditional sectors such as banking and the law.

Women should wear conservative dresses or trouser suits. Clothing should not reveal too much skin – especially legs. Try to avoid wearing leather clothing, as this could be offensive to Hindus who revere cows. If travelling in the rainy season, make sure you have appropriate clothing and an umbrella.

Many of the high-tech sectors, computing, banking and bio-science companies have a fairly informal dress code in the office which reflects the trends in the back-offices of their operations in the west.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in India only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.