‘Good recovery in rural mkts’

New Delhi Home-grown FMCG major Dabur India is seeing “very good recovery” in rural markets and expects growth from these markets to come at par with the urban market in the next 3-4 quarters, CEO Mohit Malhotra said. As inflation is coming down with the cooling of commodity prices, a “slow volume recovery” is happening in those markets, which is narrowing the difference between the growth rate between rural and urban, he said.

The recovery from the rural market is likely to continue despite a disruption in rain in some parts of the country, led by factors such as hike in MSP, good sowing of winter crops, and election season. Besides, India’s unemployment rate has decreased in the rural areas and the consumer confidence index is also at an all-time high, almost reaching the pre-COVID level, he added. “There are definite very good recovery signs, which actually I am seeing. The festive season which is coming in, should augur very well for us going forward in the future. So I am very hopeful,” Malhotra said.