The past decade has been transformative for rural India but deep-rooted vulnerabilities still remain
Two years ago, the rural consumer was the delight of consumer goods companies and financial firms as they sought to tap the growing demand in India’s countryside. After repeated spells of poor weather in the past two years, rural demand seems to have weakened sharply. Villagers appear to be trapped in a new cycle of distress, which threatens the resurgence of earlier years.
The past decade has been transformational for the rural economy in many ways. Yet, several deep-rooted vulnerabilities remained unaddressed. The combination of high economic growth, populist policies and good fortune had helped mask structural problems in the rural economy over the past decade. The latest crisis has exposed those fault lines once again.
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