Over the past two months, a chorus of voices on the sales uptick in rural areas for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) has increased, led by reverse migration of labour, progress of monsoon, and higher government spending in the hinterlands.
However, there is now a view emerging that rural revival may not be sustainable in the quarters ahead, owing to rising Covid-19 cases in smaller towns, and the net monthly gain from government intervention in the countryside being minuscule. Rural contributes a third of the FMCG industry’s sales.
In a July 20 report by brokerage Credit Suisse, analysts Neelkanth Mishra, Arnab