MUMBAI: For Indian companies with a global footprint, navigating regulatory complexity has moved from the sidelines to the centre of corporate strategy. Rules on trade, tariffs, the environment, labour, data, and taxation are changing rapidly and increasingly shaping business outcomes.Import restrictions, carbon taxes, anti-dumping duties, subsidies, and localisation norms are altering cost structures, market access, and competitiveness, directly affecting product pricing, profit margins, and capital allocation. Companies now factor regulation into core business planning, rather than treating it as a compliance exercise. Tata Steel‘s management, which oversees operations in India, the UK, the EU and Canada, highlighted this in a recent earnings call. Managing regulatory complexity, CFO Koushik Chatterjee said, has become a strategic imperative across geographies. He pointed to Tata Steel’s Netherlands operations as an example. During 9MFY26, the unit reported operating profit of 210 million euros after absorbing carbon emission-related costs of 150 million euros and an impact of 50 million euros from US tariffs. Without these regulatory-linked costs, operating profit would have topped 400 million euros-showing how policy has weighed on the bottom line.Smaller players face similar pressures. Jyoti Steel Industries partner Pankaj Chadha said fast-changing regulations leave little room for manoeuvre, often forcing companies to rely on customers for real-time intelligence. In one case, a Mexican customer told him Japanese steel was cheaper than Indian steel due to a zero-duty trade arrangement versus a 35% import duty on Indian steel. “Can you believe Japanese steel was cheaper than Indian steel? I had never heard of it until then. Understanding and incorporating regulations is now part of the business. Meetings start with this,” said Chadha, also chairman of engineering exports body EEPC.Law firm Sarvaank Associates founder Ankita Singh calls this the start of an era of “regulated strategy,” where navigating the global legislative maze becomes a competitive advantage. “Regulatory risk is no longer a cost centre but a survival metric, prompting boards to move from a ‘wait and see’ approach to a ‘preventive vigilance’ model, embedding compliance into the very architecture of products and supply chains,” she said. Madhavan Srivatsan, senior partner at Emerald Law, concurs. “Gone are the days when Indian companies treated regulatory issues lightly,” he said. “With increased regulatory scrutiny, mandatory self-reporting obligations, and the risk of stringent penalties, compliance is now one of the most critical functions.” Responsibility is also moving up the management chain. “Any instance of non-compliance can expose directors to civil and even criminal liability, in some cases on a strict liability basis where intent is irrelevant,” Srivatsan said. While conditions have improved for Tata Steel’s Netherlands unit after the EU imposed carbon costs on emission-intensive imports from Jan 1, the same measures have raised costs for India’s exports of steel, cement, aluminium and fertilisers to the bloc. From June, the EU will also cut import quotas and raise duties on volumes above those limits from 25% to 50%, further favouring domestic producers. Meanwhile, Chadha hopes India cuts a trade deal with Mexico.
