India’s public relations industry, with revenues of Rs 3,230 crore ($340 million) in FY2026, influences approximately $545 billion in economic value on an annual basis, as per an Ipsos white paper commissioned by the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI).
The white paper, The Economic Impact of Public Relations in India, was revealed at Prana 2026, PRCAI’s annual Brand India Reputation Summit, conducted in Gurugram on September 2.
The $545-billion data do not represent the PR industry’s revenue. The study estimates the broader economic value influenced by public relations through brand awareness and revenue sustainability, crisis mitigation and reputation management.
Reputation management leads at $265 billion
According to the white paper, reputation management accounts for the biggest share of the estimated economic influence at $265 billion. Revenue sustainability and growth through brand awareness provide an estimated $220 billion, whereas crisis management accounts for $60 billion.
| Area | Estimated economic value |
| Reputation management | $265 billion |
| Revenue sustainability and growth | $220 billion |
| Crisis management | $60 billion |
| Total estimated impact | $545 billion |
For reputation management, the study drew on published investor-relations research depicting that around 28% of investor decision-making is influenced by a firm’s reputation. It then isolated PR’s share of that influence against India’s listed market capitalisation of around $4.5-$4.75 trillion.
Kunal Kishore Sinha, President, PRCAI, stated that the data should be seen in the context of PR’s wider business impact. “The US$545 billion figure is not a claim of revenue. It is a measure of consequence,” Sinha mentioned.
Brand awareness related to $220 billion
The $220-billion estimate for revenue sustainability and growth is based on PR’s contribution to brand awareness across nine major sectors. These are namely, IT and software services, FMCG, automotive, hospitality, tourism, banking and financial services, e-commerce, aviation, pharmaceuticals, startups, edtech and education.
The calculation uses an adjusted organised sector base of around $1.2 billion, as per the white paper.
Deeptie Sethi, CEO of PRCAI, said the research attempts to put an economic number on reputation. She called it as “hard business currency” that influences areas including investment, innovation, and trade.
Over 90 major crises reviewed
For its crisis management analysis, the study researched more than 90 major crisis events over the past 10 years, including product safety failures, cyber incidents, brand backlash, operational disruptions, governance and financial misconduct.
Across the crises studied, the average impact was 0.35% revenue erosion and 1.5% market-capitalisation erosion.
The study estimates $60 billion in annual value at risk, consisting of around $4 billion in revenue and $56 billion in market capitalisation.
Startups, e-commerce and unicorns had the maximum estimated annual value at risk at $12.8 billion, followed by aviation at $8.9 billion and healthcare and pharmaceuticals at $7.2 billion.
500 consumers were surveyed
The white paper combined a primary survey of 500 Indian consumers,Ipsos’ assessment, market-captilisation, sector-level revenue and secondary benchmarks.
Deepak H, Partner and Country Lead, Ipsos Strategy 3, stated that the study moves the discussion around public relations “from outputs to outcomes” by interlinking areas like brand awareness, crisis losses to economic activity and investor decision-making.