Gone are the days when anything rural was considered poor. Recent studies have suggested that the rural middle class is better off than their urban counterparts. At least their purchasing power is definitely better. They don’t spend on rent, transport and school fees as much as the urban middle class and neither are their incomes very different. Meaning there are about 16 million rural middle class households in the country with a decent purchasing power.

The estimated annual business from rural markets was Rs 1,23,000 crore, comprising Rs 65,000 crore of FMCG, Rs 5,000 crore of durables, Rs 45,000 crore of agricultural inputs including tractors and Rs 8,000 crore of two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Twenty nine per cent of the rural people own cars, 27 per cent own colour televisions, 24 per cent own refrigerators and 10 per cent own washing machines, which points to the untapped potential in the rural areas. A revealing aspect of the market is that 55 per cent of the LIC policies, 50 per cent of the BSNL mobile connections, 53 per cent of the FMCG products, 59 per cent of durables, 60 per cent of Rediffmail sign-ups and 50 per cent of online shopping on Rediffmail are accounted for by the rural sector. New-generation motorcycles are replacing cycles and mopeds, while cars are replacing tractors, as the new status symbol among the rich. Gold-plated wristwatches are being replaced by mobile phones and cement-roofed houses are replacing the old asbestos and tiled houses.

The typical villager is very innovative when it comes to putting popular brands to multiple uses.