-Newsclick.in Data confirms an acute demand crisis in rural India and beyond. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s latest statement on millennials contributing to the auto industry slowdown by shifting their preferences—choosing Ola or Uber ride-booking services instead of buying cars—is feeding many a meme on social media. Even before her statement, sections of industry and the banking sector had been pushing this argument. Not just private banking giants, such as Uday Kotak, but even...

-The Hindu Industry is pinning hopes on steps by government on scrappage policy for vehicles and GST rate cut to spur tyre demand While the replacement cycle till now has helped the tyre industry to mitigate the impact of the severe demand slowdown in the automobile sector, the segment — which accounts for about 50% of the tyre market — has started to fill the pinch. While the sector is somewhat hopeful of...

-The Hindu The factories in Vetapalem are in an immediate need of mechanisation ONGOLE: The cashew industry, which has flourished for hundreds of years in Vetapalem village near Chirala town in Prakasam district, is beginning to show the first warning signs of a slump. Cashew units are reportedly struggling to sustain operations in the wake of a shortage of raw material and a skilled workforce, with fingers being pointed at the Mahatma Gandhi...

-The Hindu Business Line The government must simplify and rationalise GST, kickstart rural consumption, revive agriculture and tackle the lack of credit for capital creation, says former PM Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an eminent economist himself, feels that the Narendra Modi-led government needs to come out of its habit of headline management and address the economic challenges which the country is facing today. “We cannot afford to deny that India is facing...

-Financial Express Two measures can do much to bring back price sentiment and liquidity in agricultural markets, just when farmers are set to harvest a bumper crop. The current economic slowdown began with Bharat. It has to also end with Bharat. According to the National Statistical Office’s GDP estimates for April-June 2019 released on Friday, India’s agriculture sector — which includes forestry and fishing — grew 2.04% year-on-year during the quarter....