There are stats for everything, from the days when itswas The flexible indian Consumer, to The times in the nineties and oughts when he was the Durable Indian Consumer and now when he is simply the Tired Tired Consumer. With Rural spending growing 65% year on year in the Household Consumer Expenditure survey, we finally have a welcome report that actually validates why and where all the Durable goods companies and the FMCG ? Food majors have been peddling wares anew in the last 2-3 years.

Most consumer surveys are either pie in the cloud hopes translated into numbers like the TAM ratings much maligned yet curiously always ont he right mind maps..or on the other hand they are like the census making us rely on 2005 vintage statistics of durable sownership, even the wealth ones have no idea on month to month or even quarterly movements before turning in an annual update

The fact is the National Sample Survey led by both ET and MINT does show athe numbers for the economy, but as ET and mint chose, it could yet mean different things for different people. Mint argues we are still poor and growing on a small base in the hinterland, while ET argues we are in the middle of the revolution. Given distribution costs all discussions on moving to the hinterland are likely to be miore media hype for even the next 2-3 years as we have seen for the only viable distribtuion systems like e-Choupal and that women networked example from HUL/MFIs which really cracked up since 2008

ET

Urban India did better with the MPCE rising 68% to Rs 1,856.01 and prices, according to CPI-IW, rising 49.92%. The National Sample Survey, done every five years, was carried out between July 2009 and June 2010, covered 7,524 villages and 5,284 blocks. The data suggests there have been gains in real terms, as the rise in incomes has offset the rapid rise in prices during this period.

Mint

 Despite the much-hyped rural consumption boom and all the social sector programmes of the government, the income inequality between the rural and urban consumer widened to 91% in the first five years of the United Progressive Alliance coming to power in 2004.

According to the 66th round of the household consumption expenditure survey released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Friday, the per capita expenditure level of the urban consumer is now 91% higher than his rural counterpart, compared with 80% in the earlier 61st round of the survey conducted in 2004-05.

Mint rings truer to the heart in the first whiff, also with newspapers showing me the survey and having to wait 5 years for the next one, I pass on much more original commentary and analysis for the issue. A much in depth commentary from both, alas my advertising and marketing friends in the agencies do not get much from this even for media planning

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