In the financial year 2017-18 when tractor sales touched new heights, it was said by many of the NDA (viz. National Democratic Alliance) government supporters that rural demand has revived on account of adequate monsoon rainfall and higher minimum support prices for crops. Many economists and newspaper columnists also denied the existence of any rural distress. An alternative perspective, however, was also presented by rural economists like Dr. Himanshu who teaches...

-Moneycontrol.com The Rs 35,000 crore BIScuit industry has several players, the top most being the Britannia and Parle, which accounts for 70 percent of the industry’s volume and revenues. Subdued rural growth has begun to show up in the cookies category of eatables, especially your tea-table humble BIScuit plates. Reports have emerged that the staple BIScuits category like Parle-G has slowed down in rural demand, although similar pains are not visible in...

-The Indian Express Fixing the economy today cannot happen through consumption; revival in investment is what's desperately needed. New Delhi: Investment, unlike consumption, satisfies no immediate want. The businessman putting his money today is basically taking a bet on the future, when it would start yielding returns. Such bets are a function of the “state of confidence” at the time of investment. The investor has to be reasonably, if not absolutely,...

-Hindustan Times Unfortunately, there is no high frequency income or consumption data for the Indian economy. What we do have is monthly data for rural wages, which is available until June 2019. On Wednesday, media reports said that India’s leading BIScuit-maker Parle Products Private Limited could cut up to 10,000 jobs as “slowing economic growth and falling demand in the rural heartland could cause production cuts”. The company’s flagship brand Parle-G...

-The New Indian Express There were also reports that the auto sector has seen 3 lakh crore jobs being lost. NEW DELHI: TAKING notice of daily reports on job losses, the Union Finance Ministry has asked business chambers and industries to produce the exact number of job cuts to derive the correct picture of the economy. It has asked the industries to abstain from causing panic. “There are a number of reports that...