m NEARLY 80% OF INDIA LIVES ON HALF A DOLLER

A DAYǥ
m 2.6 BILLION PEOPLE LIVE BELOW THE $2 LEVEL
m INDIAǯS OFFICIAL POVERTY MEASURE HAS LONG
BEEN SOLELY UPON THE ABILITY TO PURCHASE A
MINIMUM RECOMMENDED DIET OF 2,400 KCAL.
m THESE ESTIMATED ARE DERIVED FROM THE
NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY (NSS)
m BUT DESPITE SUCH DRASTIC LIMITATIONS TO ITS
PURCHASING POWER AND AFFORDING CAPACITY
RURAL INDIA IS SLOWLY UNFURLING AS A VERY
LUCRATIVE TARGET MARKET.
m DESPITE BEING BACKWARD, POOR, AND
HOUSING MOST OF INDIAǯS POOR AND A LARGE
NUMBER OF THE WORLDǯS POOR IT POSSESSES
THE CAPACITY TO BECOME A SUFFICIENTLY
VALUABLE MARKET.
m IT IS SEEING SIGNIFICANT INCOME GROWTH
AND EMPLOYMENT DIVERSITY FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN ITS HISTORY.
m RURAL INDIAǯS PER CAPITA INCOME GROWTH
RATE IS SAME AS URBAN INDIAǯSǥǥ REASON FOR
IT BEING MORE INTERESTING THAN URBAN
INDIA IS THAT RURAL INDIA HAS THREE TIMES
MORE PEOPLEAND IT REPRESENTS A LITTLE
OVER HALF OF INDIAǯS TOTAL GDP.
m IT IS ALSO GENERATING TREMENDOUS FORCES
OF CHANGE IN THE MARKETǥ..
 THIS IS
TODAYǯS

RURAL
INDIAǥǥ.
m MAJORITY OF RURAL INDIA IS UNDERSERVERǥ. THIS
IS BECAUSE OF THE URBAN MARKET ORIENTATION
OF ALL THEORGANIZATIONS.
m ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS DISCRIMINATION IS
THE WRONG PERCEPTION ABOUT THE RURAL
MARKET AND HENCE NO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
SEEN
m LACK OF VISION TO STAND UPTO THE CHALLENGE
OF CREATING ANEW BUSINESS STREAM TO MEETTHE
NEEDS A LOW EDUCATION-HIGH EXPOSURE, LOW
INCOME ȂHIGH ASPIRATIONS,MOSTLY YOUNG
CONSUMER BASEǥ..
m RURAL INDIA IS PROVIDED WITH MODIFIED
VERSIONS OF THE OLD AGE EQUIPMENTS THEY
USE LIKE ǮCHULHASǯǥ.. BUT DESPITE THE FACT
THAT THEY KNOW WHAT LPG AND COOKING
GAS IS AND HOW TO USE IT THEY DONǯT GET IT
DUE TO HIGH TRANSPORTATION COST.
m THEY NEED SUBSTITUTES NOT MODIFIED JUNK.
m ANOTHER REASON FOR THIS
UNDERDEVELOPMENT IS THE ASSUMPTION
THAT RURAL INDIA WILL ADOPT URBAN
PRODUCTS WITH THE GROWTH IN ITS OWN
INFRASTRUCTURE. NOT A TRUE ASSUMPTION.
m RURAL INDIA FOLLOWS A DIFFERENT
TRAJECTORY OF EVOLUTION.
m THE MOST STRIKING DIFFERENCE IS THAT RURAL
INDIA IS DEVELOPING AS A GROWTH MARKET
AT A TIME WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS STEPPING
ASIDEIN FAVOUR OF MORE EFFICIENT PRIVATE
PLAYERS.

xTODAY RURAL INDIA CAN BE SERVED THROUGH

STATE-OF-THE-ART REMOTE BANKING SYSTEMS
xRURAL HEALTH CARE NEEDS CAN NOW BE MET
THROUGH A DISTANCE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM WITH
MOBILE STATE-OF-THE-ART DIAGNOSTIC
EQUIPMENTS, WITH NO DOCTORS BUT MANNED BY A
NUMBER OF TRAINED LOCALS.
xSOME VERSION OF E-COMMERCE,
 O
O

m RURAL INDIA IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE
DARK AGES. THIS BELIEF IS BASED ON
INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE
STRUCTURE OF THE RURAL ECONOMY.
 ONLY AGRICULTURE BASED ECONOMY
RURAL CONSUMER = FARMERS = FARM-RELATED LABOUR
 AGRICULTURE SECTOR GROWING SLOWLY SO IS RURAL
ECONOMY HENCE , NO IMPROVEMENT IN RURAL PER CAPITA
INCOME
 INDIAǯS GDP GROWTH MUCH HIGHER WITH MUCH
CONTRIBUTION OF URBAN INDIA
 ë0% OF INDIAN POPULATION LIVES IN RURAL AREAS AND IS
SUPPORTED BY AGRICULTURE WHICH COMPRISES OF ONLY 23%
OF THE TOTAL GDP
 30% OF URBAN POPULATION CONTROLS THE REMAINING ë %
 THEREFORE THE URBAN-RURAL INCOME AND LIFESTYLE IS
GROWING.
m DATA COLLECTED IN 1990ǯS DIPICTED THAT URBAN INDIA
WAS MORE NON-AGRICULTURAL THAN IT WAS
ANICIPATED.
m 4% OF INDIAǯS TOTAL GDP WAS RURAL
m RURAL AND URBAN GDP IS GROWING AT THE SAME RATE
RURAL IS MUCH MORE THAN AGRICULTURE ; IT HAS A
GROWING MANUFACTURING AND SERVICE SECTOR
m PER CAPITA RURAL INCOME HAS GROWN AT THE SAME
RATE AS OF THE URBAN BETWEEN 1993-4 AND 2000-01
m THE TOP QUARTILE OF RURAL INDIA HAVE BEEN
DISCONTINUOUSLY HIGHER SPENDERS AS COMPARED
TO URBAN INDIA
m THERE IS CONSIDERABLE PENT-UP DEMAND FOR GOODS
AS WELL AS SERVICES. WITH A LARGE NEW MARKET
OPPORTUNITY GROWING
m THE RURAL
INDIA IS NOT
FAR BEHIND
RATHER AHEAD
OF THE URBAN
INDIA AS CAN
BE SEEN IN
THESE FIGURS
TOOǥǥ IT WILL
BE VERY
ILLOGICAL TO
SAY THAT ITS
GROWTH AND
CONSUMPTION
IS LOWǥ..
m 0  
  (rural market is larger than the urban
market for many categories)

 (2003-2004 shows than 62% comes
from rural india and 38% from urban india)
   (for rural india it is around
US$ 30 and for urban india it is over US$1200)
  ( Indiaǯs largest life insurer, sells more than half
of its policies in rural India)

   ! (41 million kisan credit cards

were issued to farmers which is almost double issued in
urban India)

 Ô  (42 million rural households availed of

bank accounts, compared t0 2ë million urban households)

 % of middle income households(those earning

between Rs 4 ,000 and Rs 21 ,000 )
 Literacy and education levels (Indian
m Readership Survey data shows that between
m 2000-200 there has a been a -ë% improvement
 Private partnerships
 "#   

Quantity( food is still 8.3% of total expenditure,

while non- food expenditure is at 41.ë%)
Income( % of the rural population by income)
Growth (food-related expenditure has been
much slower than the non-food )