Rural consumers more discerning now, says Rajat Wahi, Partner, Deloitte India

During the 1st day of The Economic Times Rural Strategy Summit 2018 held in Delhi, Rajat Wahi, Partner, Deloitte India highlighted the growth opportunities in the rural markets of India in his presentation -- ‘Decoding the Rural Labyrinth’. He asserted that India’s demographic strengths are huge in comparison to many other countries whereby 1/3 of the population comprise the Millennials which is expected to shape of the country’s demographics in the future since they make up nearly 50% of India’s workforce. He further stated that the rural areas account for nearly half of the country’s Net Domestic Product (NDP).

Rural India contributes 47% of total NDP, 71% of the total workforce, 40-45% of FMCG Sales and 45% of telecom revenues. He also highlighted the fact that rural consumption is growing more than urban areas where urban consumption grew at 15.6%, rural consumption increased by 16.7% in the last few years due to an increase in income.

He also touched upon the growing awareness of rural consumers whereby they are better informed about the products and has greater access to products & services. Lately, the internet penetration has grown by 17% where 90% of the population uses mobile as the primary device for accessing internet. From November 2015 till date, there has been 22% of growth in internet users in rural markets. While, there are 57% of mobile users are under the age of 25, the smartphone penetration has increased to 12.5% in the rural markets.