Two consecutive years of better monsoon, MSP hike lift rural demand

Consumer goods makers say higher farm yield and MSP boosting discretionary spending among rural households

Two consecutive years of better monsoon have played a key role in reviving demand for consumer goods in rural India. Better yield, backed by a hike in minimum support price for crops like wheat and pulses, has helped sales growth in the recent quarter, several executives from the consumer goods industry told Business Standard.

According to data from market research firm Nielsen, the rural market's volume growth outpaced urban’s by a wide margin during 2017-18 – the highest in past five years. During the year, volume growth in rural market clocked 9.7 per cent compared to 8.6 per cent in urban