The new PR guard: India’s independent PR agencies step into the light

 3 years ago, Strategic Growth Advisors brought in Rahul Jain of Adfactors to expand its PR practice. Under Jain, the PR practice, specialising in financial communication and corporate reputation, has grown from 4 to 60 employees. Jain remains bullish about his firm's continuing growth.

"Initially, everybody was talking about a slowdown, but I don't see that here. It could be a very knee-jerk reaction in the next one quarter or so, but 12 months down the line, we decently see a high double-digit growth to happen for us in India."

PR firms aren't necessarily looking at outside investors to scale and grow. The focus is changing per Jain.

He says, "It's all about unit economics that play into the business.  It's not necessary that in PR you can only make money when someone buys out your business. If margins are being held properly, if the business is build thoughtfully, then the ROI or unit economics will start playing in for the businesses which is what we have been concentration on from the beginning."

And AI has a strong role in creating better unit economics by helping the team doing faster, better work, adds Jain.

Of course, it must be pointed out here, that AI incorporation into PR workflow is evolving constantly and there are very few global comms networks who haven't already brought out local firms.

Earlier this year, Ideosphere sent out an email blast saying they have 'stopped doing branding.' Their way of announcing that the company was going back to basics.

Aniruddha Bhagwat, its co-founder, said, "A spicy logo won't save an insipid narrative. A brand film won't build trust if what you're saying isn't lived. Creativity gives allure; it's not the meat. So we shifted. Everything we do now starts with the message. The truth of what a business stands for, why it exists, and how it sees its world. Then, and only then, do we get creative."

The aim, shares Bhagwat, is to break PR from the confines of media relations and move to a strategic messaging role. Bhagwat says that this approach has enabled Ideosphere to grow its retainer base by deploying messaging across a raft of verticals from HR to CRM. Existing clients are expanding their mandate from PR to messaging.

That is where Bhagwat believes future growth will come from. 

Veritas Reputation PR founder and MD, Hemant Batra, believes that for future growth, the agency model has to evolve. Confident of 18 to 20% percent growth in 2026, Batra says they have added corporate communications to BFSI PR. Like Ideosphere, Veritas is focused on deepening its expertise in BFSI to a more consulting-style model.

Batra says if done correctly and if margins keep growing, scaling can come from internal financing and does not have to depend on outside funds to grow. Critical to the success of this approach is innovation around the discoverability of messaging and workflows and reducing reliance on traditional media relations.

Batra says they have an internal innovation team of 12 that is looking at how to progress to and incorporate better messaging outreach workflows using AI.

Teamwork Communications Group is a Delhi-based health comms specialist. Its co-founder, Nikky Gupta, points out, " The future of PR is not only in the hands of independent firms, but they are also reshaping it. Today, independent PR firms have an edge because they are far more agile, founder-led, and deeply invested in outcomes. At the same time, the idea that independent firms will completely replace large agencies is a bit overstated. Global networks still bring scale, international access, and structured systems that many large clients rely on. The future is less about who wins and more about who adapts faster."

Gupta says the company is targeting a 25–30% year-on-year growth, but more importantly, "We track the quality of that growth, average retainer value, share of integrated mandates, and contribution from existing clients. A large part of our focus is on increasing wallet share rather than just adding new logos."

Gupta concludes that from a target's perspective, the next phase is about:

• Strengthening leadership depth
• Building a more proactive business development engine
• Increasing the share of high-value, advisory-led mandates

Aksharaa Lalwani, founder of Communicate India, feels that, "In 2026, as expectations evolve, clients are looking for partners who understand consumer sentiment, policy shifts, founder reputation, digital communities, regional media, investor narratives and social conversations in real time. This is where Indian independent firms are becoming increasingly relevant.

At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the role global networks have played in bringing process, structure and international exposure to the Indian market. However, the current communications landscape demands deeper intelligence and faster market response, making the case for a more multimodal partner rather than a traditional agency model."

Lalwani admits that the global environment in 2026 is uncertain, but feels that India’s position remains strong, "Its strategic neutrality, economic resilience and domestic demand continue to make it an attractive market for companies seeking stability and long-term growth."

Underlying inbound interest in India remains significant, with global businesses continuing to view it as an inevitable growth market. Alongside this, Lalwani adds, domestic momentum is driving strong demand for communications. Indian companies are scaling, becoming more professional and competing with global ambition.

Given these dynamics, 2026 is likely to reward agencies that are commercially intelligent, efficient and advisory-led.