With all the recession chatter swirling around, venture-backed companies, large manufacturers and conglomerates were expecting a morale booster from India’s latest GDP numbers. What they have finally got is a mixed bag.

Consumer spending was flattish in product categories targeted at the masses in the quarter ended September 2022, still recovering from the aftereffects of Covid-19. The segments of premium brands, though, continue to flourish in a parallel reality.

This is both good and bad for startups looking to expand their horizons and user counts. 

• While their core base of high-income city dwellers will keep buying from them, wooing shoppers in smaller cities and towns will take a lot of work.
• These markets were meant to deliver further growth. That likely won’t happen for some quarters. 

Metrics reloaded: Private final consumption expenditure is the sum total of India’s consumer economy and moves its growth rate the most.