-The Hindu consumer demand started to decline before the pandemic and worsened after outbreak In September, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was anguished that industry was holding back from investing in manufacturing despite a significant cut in corporate tax rates in 2019. The slowdown in corporate investment did not happen because companies were making losses. In fact, private companies, boosted by considerable tax cuts, made windfall profits. A State Bank of India analysis shows...

-ThePrint.in In an affidavit filed before Supreme Court, environment ministry has said domestic production of GM Mustard will reduce India’s dependency on other countries to meet domestic demand. New Delhi: Defending the clearance given last month to the environmental release of Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard, the central government told the Supreme Court that the deployment of GM Mustard hybrids will contribute to India’s self-sustenance in the production of edible oil and shall...

-PTI/ The Hindu ‘The consumption decline in the rural markets continues to be led by both double-digit price increases and lower unit growth’ The country's FMCG industry continued to witness consumption slowdown in the September quarter, with rural markets registering a higher decline in volumes compared to the three months ended June, says a report. Also, consumers continued to prefer purchasing smaller packets amid companies hiking prices in response to broader inflationary pressures,...

-Livemint.com Most companies flagged a sluggish rural demand in the September quarter that impacted their quarterly volumes. However, most expect some form of recovery in demand in the second half of the financial year New Delhi: September quarter earnings of fast moving consumer goods companies helped zoomed in on the demand environment in rural markets that remains squeezed due to high inflation. Most companies flagged a sluggish rural demand in the September quarter...

-The Telegraph In a remarkable development, for the first time in 20 years, currency in circulation (CIC) declined during Diwali week. With the increased acceptance of digital payments in the country, over-reliance on cash is slowly fading away. Over the years, the Indian cash-led economy has now changed to a smart-phone led payment economy, says a research note.   In the report, Dr Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser of State Bank...