Not just a function, But a force: The new shape of PR in India

For decades in India, PR was just the function everyone leveraged, but few could define. It worked behind the curtains, stepped in when needed, and stepped back when the spotlight arrived.

Ask ten people what PR does, and you’ll get ten different answers from media, messaging, crisis, campaigns, reputation. All of it is true. And yet, none of it fully captures the role. Previously, in PR, success meant coverage. Influence meant access to journalists. And the function itself was often brought in at the end, once decisions were made, messages needed to be pushed out, and visibility had to be secured. 

This National PR Day, industry leaders explore how India’s PR industry transformation and how it is becoming more strategic, agile, and future-ready.

India's PR Industry evolution

As India liberalised, markets expanded, and brands multiplied, communications started becoming more complex and public relations in India become even more crucial function. Today, it is tied to reputation, trust, crisis management, stakeholder engagement, internal culture, public affairs, and even business strategy. 

PRCAI’s SPRINT 2024-25 report says India’s PR industry has grown at a CAGR of 12.8% over the last decade, and reached ₹2,500 crore in FY23, with 19% year-on-year growth. It also notes that the industry is expected to nearly double by FY30.

As Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR, explains it, “PR was never just about press releases and party invites. It was always about building reputations that last.” Her point captures the industry’s biggest change: smart brands understood this early, and today they are seeing the value of treating PR as a leadership function, not a last-minute service. She further cautioned that trust is what creates reputations with real foundations. However, the organisations who are still treating this as an afterthought are getting an education. Just at a much higher price point.

“Today, PR is being recognised as the ONE unique leadership function that sits at the intersection of reputation, trust, and business strategy. The connective tissue between what a brand says, what it does, and what the world chooses to believe” is where modern PR now lives. Smart brands understood that 30 years ago and they are the ones setting the pace now while others play catch-up. Some faster than others, but the memo is finally getting around,” she adds.

That idea runs through the rest of the industry too.

Shivaram Lakshminarayan, Managing Director, Ruder Finn India, says communication has evolved from narrative management to strategy itself. In a world where information spreads at lightning speed, and AI is already shaping opinions before conversations even begin, he argues that communication has to sit at the heart of decision-making. For him, PR is no longer only about storytelling. It is about guiding leaders through perceptions, risk, culture, engagement, and credibility and using both human judgment and AI-driven insight to do it better.

That is the new reality for Indian PR teams. They are no longer just reacting to events. They are helping shape the conditions in which trust is either built or broken.

Vivek Sabarwal of Woodland highlights the comprehensive shift of PR as a function, “The transitional journey of a ‘PR executive’ of our earlier times to the ‘Mar Comm professional’ of the current times says it all. 

Gone are the days when PR was primarily perceived to be a function to disseminate press releases, rigorous follow-ups, pitching journos for relationship meetings, interactions; proving its presence, trust-worthy action to the brand teams. The new format i.e the digitally connected media landscape has ensured ready access to abundant information thus, cutting through the clutter to ensure right message reaching the right audience, in the most relevant form remains a constant challenge, making PR a strategic force shaping reputation, trust & business impact.

PR in today’s world has proved to be the connecting bone between the brand, its purpose, and the underlying trust; playing an indispensable role in the success of modern businesses.

Nandini Chatterjee, Former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, PwC, takes that evolution even further. She says public relations has never been more important because consumers, employees, investors, and communities are all watching whether what organisations say matches what they do. She defines that a PR professional's role is to build the right narratives that create consistent alignment and shape corporate reputation. In a world where a single misstep can travel globally in minutes, she says communications is no longer a support function. It is strategic. 

“As AI reshapes how people discover information, earned and owned media, which is the core of PR, is gaining ground over paid. The pace of information flow also means reputation can shift overnight. Knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to navigate a crisis requires seasoned communications judgement,” Chatterjee elucidates.

That strategic role is exactly where India’s PR industry has found its disruption. However, there is also a deeper question about how PR is understood.

Gaurav Jain, Founder, Morning Star BrandCom illustrates, “We speak a lot about PR as a profession, but rarely about PR as a philosophy. At its core, public relations is one of the only business disciplines that derives its power entirely from trust, and yet it is consistently asked to prove its value in metrics. That needs to change. PR doesn't amplify a brand; it builds the conditions under which a brand deserves to be heard. On a day that celebrates this profession, I think the most transformative thing we can do is stop treating reputation as an outcome and start treating it as an input, something that must be kept in mind before a product is launched, a decision is made, or a story is told.”

Today, PR is no longer a downstream function. It is upstream as it is also becoming central to business outcomes. 

Shailesh Goyal, Founder, Simulations Public Affairs Management Services, defines PR as “the strategic conscience of an organisation,” moving from the boardroom’s footnote to its frontline. He points out that clients increasingly bring communications teams in not for announcements, but for narratives that drive business outcomes.

“In an era where reputation is a balance sheet asset and every stakeholder is a publisher, PR has moved from the boardroom's footnote to its frontline. The Indian PR market has grown to ₹2,500 crore with 19% year-on-year growth, and 2026 marking the shift where communications leaders are involved at the earliest stages of organisational strategy rather than just crisis cleanup. That is not just evolution, that is transformation,” Goyal emphasises.

Even with its rapid growth, PR continues to evolve with much more to achieve

Chetna Israni, Co-Founder & Director, Morning Star BrandCom, asserts,“The most telling sign that PR hasn't yet arrived in the boardroom is this: companies call their communications teams after a strategy is decided, not while it is being shaped. But reputation doesn't wait for the press release. It lives in every business decision, every stakeholder interaction, every silence. The organisations that understand this don't just have better PR, they have fewer crises, stronger relationships, and more honest conversations with their clients and their media. PR becomes transformative not when it gets a better brief, but when it's in the room where the brief is written.” That idea captures the essence of where Indian PR stands today. 

The future of PR in India is full of possibilities.

As the industry continues its strong growth trajectory, it is also expanding its influence across trust, leadership conversations, stakeholder engagement, digital ecosystems, and emerging technologies like AI. The shift from visibility to credibility is opening up new opportunities for PR professionals to shape not just communication, but business direction itself.

The journey from support function to strategic force is well underway. In the years ahead, PR will become more predictive, more insight-driven, and more closely aligned with organisational strategy. 

And in that future, PR will not just tell stories. It will become a force that helps organisations build trust, navigate change, and grow with confidence.