Indian firms turn to small-town markets insulated from US tariffs

Indian companies are betting on small towns and villages to sustain growth at a time the third-largest Asian economy is bracing for pain from US’s punishing 50 per cent tariffs.

 

Businesses from biscuits makers to building materials suppliers underscored the buoyant rural demand in investor calls for their June quarter earnings, adding that low inflation and the prospect of a good harvest will ensure the 900 million Indians living outside cities keep spending. Consumption growth in India’s countryside has outpaced that in urban markets for six straight quarters, according to data analytics firm NielsenIQ.