Making Due Diligence Work in India: What European Companies Can Do Differently

In my previous article, I wrote about the EU–India trade deal as more than a growth story—it is also a chance to make sustainability real on the ground.

The next question I hear from European companies is even more practical:

“So what do we actually do in India—beyond audits and reports?”

After working with European and Japanese companies across Indian supply chains, here are actions that consistently lead to meaningful progress.

1) Start with dialogue, not diagnostics

Risk tools, country indices, and audit prep are useful—but they’re not where implementation begins.

In India, progress often starts with a structured supplier dialogue:

• What are the operational pressures suppliers face?
• What workforce realities exist (contract labour, migrants, seasonal work)?
• What expectations are coming from Europe—and what feels unclear?

When companies start with a conversation instead of a checklist, suppliers become more open and the real constraints surface early.

2) Spend time where the risks actually play out

Due diligence is often managed far from daily operations. But risks live in:

• the shop floor routines,
• subcontractor arrangements,
• shift management,
• and worker voice channels.

The most effective companies make space for:

• listening to supervisors and workers,
• walking the floor with local managers,
• and understanding how systems function during normal production—not just during audits.

This is where “paper compliance” and “real practice” diverge.

3) Move beyond audit cycles

Audits can identify issues. They rarely solve them.

I’ve seen the same audit findings repeat for years, not because suppliers don’t care, but because they often lack practical guidance on what “good” looks like in their context.

A better model is:

• use audits to identify priorities,
• then invest in structured improvement projects that build systems suppliers can actually run.

4) Build supplier capability through short improvement sprints

The fastest results I’ve seen come from time-bound sprints (often 3–6 months) focused on a few practical outcomes, such as:

• grievance mechanism that workers trust and use,
• health & safety basics that are workable on the floor,
• contractor management and induction systems,
• worker communication and training.

This approach keeps work realistic and creates visible progress without overwhelming supplier teams.

5) Educate suppliers regularly—in plain language

Many Indian suppliers want to meet European expectations, but requirements evolve and are often communicated in legal or technical language.

What helps is practical education:

• what HREDD requires (and what it doesn’t),
• what “forced labour risk” looks like in real operations,
• what good systems look like in practice.

Once suppliers understand the “why,” implementation gets easier.

6) Use a local bridge to translate expectations both ways

India is not one culture. It’s many microcultures, languages, and ways of working.

A consistent accelerator is a local person who can:

• translate European requirements into practical steps suppliers can implement,
• and translate supplier realities back to European teams clearly and credibly.

This bridge reduces misunderstanding, speeds up trust-building, and helps avoid unrealistic “pipe dream” solutions.

Closing thought

In India, the strongest due diligence outcomes come when companies move from verification to enablement—from “prove it” to “let’s build it.”

That is how risk reduces and improvements stick.

Series: Making Due Diligence Work in India (EU–India Supply Chains)

• Part 1: From Trade to Trust: How the EU–India Deal Can Make Sustainability Real on the Ground
• Part 2: Making Due Diligence Work in India: What European Companies Can Do Differently
• Part 3: Your First Supplier Visit to India: What European Managers Should Look For (coming next)

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