Rural Market
Forget 'India' and 'Bharat'. There’s a crack deepening within Bharat.
Rural wages are stagnant. But spending on discretionary goods is rising rather than on staples. What explains this puzzle?
At the peak of India's consumer boom, around a decade after liberalisation, talk of two countries-in-one became common in business circles. One was India, living in the cities and enjoying the fruits of a more open economy and the foreign investment it brings. The other was Bharat, the forgotten rural hinterland that still relies on unstable monsoons for income and
on listed consumer firms published on April 5, equities brokerage firm Jefferies recommends investing in consumer discretionary stocks over those of consumer staples. Jubilant Foodworks, owner of the Domino’s quick-service restaurant franchise, and Asian Paints, India's largest paints firm, are getting their nod over major consumer staples firms like Britannia and Colgate-Palmolive (India). The reason? These stocks are still overvalued.
