Big Question: Income and sectoral disparity in India can be visible with naked eyes. You only have to stand near any shopping mall of a big city. You can still see many rikshaw pullers huffing and puffing to get a customer and many luxury cars being driven inside or outside of the shopping mall!
The Indian economy is experiencing robust GDP growth, macroeconomic stability, and significant foreign capital inflows. However, there is a stark disparity in growth rates between the top 20% and the rest of the population. Despite a GDP growth rate of 8% for FY24, domestic consumption growth remains sluggish at 4%, highlighting income inequality as the wealthiest 20% accumulate 92% of the country's savings.
The remaining 80% is growing by about 4%. In fact, with real Sensex and gold price growth at 20% and 13%, respectively, and agriculture growth of 1.4%, it's possible that the top 5% of Indians are growing income at 15-18%, and the bottom 20% are not growing at all.
There is much anecdotal evidence to prove this. The FMCG sector is reporting low-volume growth. On the other hand, more 'premium' sectors like SUVs, modern retail and luxury goods are doing very well.