India’s beauty industry is drawing international capital as rising incomes, wider digital access and strong demand from younger consumers accelerate growth. The market was valued at approximately $23 billion (2.20 lakh crore rupees) in 2025 and is expected to reach about $40 billion (3.83 lakh crore rupees) by the end of the decade.
The sector is expanding at twice the rate of India’s gross domestic product and retail market, according to the source material. Recent activity by multinational companies has underlined the industry’s appeal. Estée Lauder fully acquired Forest Essentials in March, while France’s L’Oréal Group took a majority stake in digital personal-care brand Innovist in June. Unilever has also made at least four investments in Indian beauty products through its venture-capital arm in recent years.
Forest Essentials, founded by entrepreneur and single mother of two Meera Kulkarni, has grown from a startup into a company valued at $1 billion with an international presence over the past two decades.
Greater spending power is a central factor behind the expansion. Redseer says India’s per-person income crossed 190,000 rupees ($2,000) in 2019, a level associated with faster growth in discretionary spending. By 2030, around 15.5 crore households are expected to have annual incomes above 900,000 rupees ($9,500).
Kushal Bhatnagar, a Redseer partner, said consumers previously had limited purchasing power for products beyond basic items such as multipurpose soap or face powder. Improved access, distribution and product education, combined with the internet and social-media influencers, have since helped brands reach consumers directly.
E-commerce is expected to account for about 35% of total beauty spending by 2030, compared with 8% five years earlier. The pandemic also changed buying habits, according to Vaishali Gupta, who co-founded vegan skincare company Hyphen with Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon in 2023 and runs mCaffeine. She said digital access across tier-one, tier-two and tier-three cities exposed consumers to information about international trends and skincare ingredients.
Gupta’s brands recorded combined revenue growth of 100% over the past year. She said Hyphen and mCaffeine now rank among the top 10 brands in their respective categories in India.
Gen Z is a major force in the shift. Gupta says the group spends almost twice as much on skincare and personal care as millennials. Flipkart data shows that Gen Z makes up about 56% of the platform’s beauty and personal-care customers, with 70% learning about beauty products through social media. Two-thirds of beauty searches on Flipkart come from non-metropolitan areas.
Redseer expects Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s share of beauty spending to rise from 32% in 2024 to about 50% by 2030. Redseer also forecasts that at least 10-15 beauty companies could exceed 20 crore dollars in revenue within the next three to five years.
