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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Rise of the Indian Middle Class
Executive summary of The McKinsey Quarterly article "Tacking the growth of India's middle class" (Ed. 2007 Number 3).
The Indian middle class is poised for exponential growth following population increase and rise in disposable incomes across the subcontinent.
Demographic Facts:
Whereas in 2005 the percentage of India's middle class earning Rs. 2,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000 in disposable incomes was around 5 percent at 50 million people, this will increase to about 41 percent, or 583 million people by 2025. This will be coupled with a change in concentration of spending power from the predominantly rural today at 57 percent to the urban at 62 percent by 2025. Level of urbanization will not change much. Today only 29 percent of Indian live in urban centers, and this will increase to only about 37 percent by 2025. 40 percent of Chinese and 48 percent of Indonesians, by contrast, are urbanites today itself. However, increase in population will cause an absolute increase in the middle class population from 318 million today to 523 million in 2025. Most of this growth will be concentrated in the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai, followed by Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune.
The trend will follow a wave-like transition of masses from one class into the higher one. Until 2010 the Deprived class (< Rs. 90,000 annual income) will migrate into the Aspirers class (Rs. 90,000 - Rs. 2,00,000 annual income), which will peak around 2010. Period from 2010 to 2020 will witness an efflux of the Aspirers into the Seekers class (Rs. 2,00,000 - Rs. 5,00,000) and from 2020 onwards Seekers will start migrating into the Strivers class (Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000 annual income) as incomes continue to increase. The Globals (> Rs. 10,00,000 annual income) will continue to be a small part of the population but will increase from 0.20 percent of the population in 2005 to 2 percent in 2025. In absolute terms, they will be grow to more than the current population of Australia at 24 million. As a result of these demographic changes, India, the 12th-largest consumer economy as on 2005, will become the 5th-largest by 2025.
Implications for Businesses:
As observed in other emerging economies, necessities like food and clothing will decrease as a percentage of consumption in a middle class family's budget. Due to the population increase, however, their consumption will continue to rise year-on-year, though at a much lower rate than that of discretionary spending. Growth in consumption of food, for example, will accelerate to 4.5 percent as compared to 3 percent today and will continue to remain the single largest category of expenditure.
Discretionary spending will rise from 52 percent of total spending today to 70 percent by 2025 and will comprise predominantly of services and products that contribute to improvement in the economic prospects and the quality of life for the individual and the family - health care, education, communications and transport.
Driven in part by the sorry state of public health care infrastructure, private health care spending will increase to 13% of purchases by Indian households, more than all the benchmark countries (Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea and United States), with the exception of the United States. Education expenses will grow 11 percent to 9 percent of household consumption, more than any of the benchmark countries due to demand for better-quality education, university degrees and study-abroad programs. Transportation expenses, already the largest category in spending after food, will exceed its share compared to any of the benchmark countries. The highest growth will come from purchases of cars.
The switch from spending on necessities to discretionary products and services is taking place in India at lower levels of income as compared to other countries. South Korea underwent similar transformation in the 1980s, when its per capita income was twice that of India. This means businesses catering to the Indian middle class will be squeezed between their rising aspirations, expectations and desire for a modern middle-class lifestyle and the reality of their limited budgets.
Incumbents, primarily domestic companies, have the advantage of being closer to the consumers longer, understanding them and possessing a well-developed distribution infrastructure, critical in this country. However, they will have to unlearn many of their traditional approaches to business to be able to address the impending discontinuity in consumption trends. Such gaps present opportunities for the challengers to differentiate their offerings and gain competitive advantage. Their experience in other emerging economies, especially in areas where rising aspirations caused populations to switch from local brands to the international ones, will come in particularly useful while chalking out the India strategy.
Businesses will have to come up with new business models that will customize products and services to the Indian's requirements, and will have to be able to do it rapidly on a mass scale. Those that embark on this challenging mission today will put themselves in a better position to leverage the opportunities that will manifest themselves over the next two decades.
The Indian middle class is poised for exponential growth following population increase and rise in disposable incomes across the subcontinent.
Demographic Facts:
Whereas in 2005 the percentage of India's middle class earning Rs. 2,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000 in disposable incomes was around 5 percent at 50 million people, this will increase to about 41 percent, or 583 million people by 2025. This will be coupled with a change in concentration of spending power from the predominantly rural today at 57 percent to the urban at 62 percent by 2025. Level of urbanization will not change much. Today only 29 percent of Indian live in urban centers, and this will increase to only about 37 percent by 2025. 40 percent of Chinese and 48 percent of Indonesians, by contrast, are urbanites today itself. However, increase in population will cause an absolute increase in the middle class population from 318 million today to 523 million in 2025. Most of this growth will be concentrated in the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai, followed by Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune.
The trend will follow a wave-like transition of masses from one class into the higher one. Until 2010 the Deprived class (< Rs. 90,000 annual income) will migrate into the Aspirers class (Rs. 90,000 - Rs. 2,00,000 annual income), which will peak around 2010. Period from 2010 to 2020 will witness an efflux of the Aspirers into the Seekers class (Rs. 2,00,000 - Rs. 5,00,000) and from 2020 onwards Seekers will start migrating into the Strivers class (Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000 annual income) as incomes continue to increase. The Globals (> Rs. 10,00,000 annual income) will continue to be a small part of the population but will increase from 0.20 percent of the population in 2005 to 2 percent in 2025. In absolute terms, they will be grow to more than the current population of Australia at 24 million. As a result of these demographic changes, India, the 12th-largest consumer economy as on 2005, will become the 5th-largest by 2025.
Implications for Businesses:
As observed in other emerging economies, necessities like food and clothing will decrease as a percentage of consumption in a middle class family's budget. Due to the population increase, however, their consumption will continue to rise year-on-year, though at a much lower rate than that of discretionary spending. Growth in consumption of food, for example, will accelerate to 4.5 percent as compared to 3 percent today and will continue to remain the single largest category of expenditure.
Discretionary spending will rise from 52 percent of total spending today to 70 percent by 2025 and will comprise predominantly of services and products that contribute to improvement in the economic prospects and the quality of life for the individual and the family - health care, education, communications and transport.
Driven in part by the sorry state of public health care infrastructure, private health care spending will increase to 13% of purchases by Indian households, more than all the benchmark countries (Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea and United States), with the exception of the United States. Education expenses will grow 11 percent to 9 percent of household consumption, more than any of the benchmark countries due to demand for better-quality education, university degrees and study-abroad programs. Transportation expenses, already the largest category in spending after food, will exceed its share compared to any of the benchmark countries. The highest growth will come from purchases of cars.
The switch from spending on necessities to discretionary products and services is taking place in India at lower levels of income as compared to other countries. South Korea underwent similar transformation in the 1980s, when its per capita income was twice that of India. This means businesses catering to the Indian middle class will be squeezed between their rising aspirations, expectations and desire for a modern middle-class lifestyle and the reality of their limited budgets.
Incumbents, primarily domestic companies, have the advantage of being closer to the consumers longer, understanding them and possessing a well-developed distribution infrastructure, critical in this country. However, they will have to unlearn many of their traditional approaches to business to be able to address the impending discontinuity in consumption trends. Such gaps present opportunities for the challengers to differentiate their offerings and gain competitive advantage. Their experience in other emerging economies, especially in areas where rising aspirations caused populations to switch from local brands to the international ones, will come in particularly useful while chalking out the India strategy.
Businesses will have to come up with new business models that will customize products and services to the Indian's requirements, and will have to be able to do it rapidly on a mass scale. Those that embark on this challenging mission today will put themselves in a better position to leverage the opportunities that will manifest themselves over the next two decades.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Mumbai Attacked (Again!)
Ya so I know I am on a blogging spree today. But really, even a low-reactive person like me can sometimes feel like raising his voice, to be heard, although the chances are slim, by the living-in-ivory-tower-protected-by-Z-security-promoting-caste-and-religion-politics-police-enslaving-unabashedly-selfish-offendingly-insensitive-corrupt-etc.-etc.-etc. and most importantly - elected-by-US-THE-PEOPLE - Rulers of the nation. Can't really call them politicians, because policies they don't, rather can't, make. Rulers is much more apt. They rule us like the slaves we have made ourselves out to be. And really, politicians don't live in ivory towers, rulers do. One bastion of defence we had against them - election day - is also forgone by us. Because now we can either vote Thug A vs. Dacoit B, or Rapist C vs. Despot D, or a slap in our face vs. a lotus without roots. But I am getting ahead of myself here.
As I was watching the news channels report the same thing again and again (they called it LIVE coverage) for the past 3 days there were many views and counterviews thrown from all sides, by all involved, even by those not involved. Media was castigating politicians, people were worshipping NSG commandos (I wonder if we even knew what NSG stands for before this), news studios full of concerned and enlightened citizens were advising on corrective and prevetive measures against future terror strikes, erstwhile strategists and think tank members were pulled out of anonymity to tell us about the sad state of our intelligence and sadder state of our machinery to act on whatever little we manage to forage, and oh yes! How can we forget our dearest Rulers, with IQ less than an ant's making such appropriate statements as "In big cities like Mumbai, such small incidences keep happening". Or those with courage less than a hyena's, who promote divisive politics for a seat or two, and then put their tail between their legs and go lie down while others do the fighting and dying for them.
But amongst all this hoopla and hype the message that came through again and again was not so horrifying in its hopelessness as in its uncertainty. News anchors, experts, us, everyone, wondered till when exactly will this uproar last. Will we rant and rave for two weeks, two months maximum, before we go back to our sordid little lives? Do we still have to wonder? Can we still not be sure that we are angry enough now to set a momentum going to bring about a change? A news channel reported that in the last 40 odd years about 1,500 people have been killed in terrorist attacks. Maybe the number is just 300 or maybe its 15,000 - even that would be negligible compared to the number of soldiers that died in a single World War from a single nationality. If we went by numbers purely, wouldn't terrorism be much more preferable to war? But it's different in a war. Terrorism is a slap in our face. It is the degradation of our humanity. It tells us that a bunch of college kids armed with nothing more than false ideology can put bullets through our eyes anytime they wish to. That is why we feel hurt when terrorised, and proud even if killed in war. The saddest part is - judging by the times we have barked, but never bitten - we may have become an animal that will prefer humiliating terrorism, over an honorable war, as long as we can go about our business, day in, and day out.
As I was watching the news channels report the same thing again and again (they called it LIVE coverage) for the past 3 days there were many views and counterviews thrown from all sides, by all involved, even by those not involved. Media was castigating politicians, people were worshipping NSG commandos (I wonder if we even knew what NSG stands for before this), news studios full of concerned and enlightened citizens were advising on corrective and prevetive measures against future terror strikes, erstwhile strategists and think tank members were pulled out of anonymity to tell us about the sad state of our intelligence and sadder state of our machinery to act on whatever little we manage to forage, and oh yes! How can we forget our dearest Rulers, with IQ less than an ant's making such appropriate statements as "In big cities like Mumbai, such small incidences keep happening". Or those with courage less than a hyena's, who promote divisive politics for a seat or two, and then put their tail between their legs and go lie down while others do the fighting and dying for them.
But amongst all this hoopla and hype the message that came through again and again was not so horrifying in its hopelessness as in its uncertainty. News anchors, experts, us, everyone, wondered till when exactly will this uproar last. Will we rant and rave for two weeks, two months maximum, before we go back to our sordid little lives? Do we still have to wonder? Can we still not be sure that we are angry enough now to set a momentum going to bring about a change? A news channel reported that in the last 40 odd years about 1,500 people have been killed in terrorist attacks. Maybe the number is just 300 or maybe its 15,000 - even that would be negligible compared to the number of soldiers that died in a single World War from a single nationality. If we went by numbers purely, wouldn't terrorism be much more preferable to war? But it's different in a war. Terrorism is a slap in our face. It is the degradation of our humanity. It tells us that a bunch of college kids armed with nothing more than false ideology can put bullets through our eyes anytime they wish to. That is why we feel hurt when terrorised, and proud even if killed in war. The saddest part is - judging by the times we have barked, but never bitten - we may have become an animal that will prefer humiliating terrorism, over an honorable war, as long as we can go about our business, day in, and day out.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Hey! Look! The power of http://... Here's a link to the film I was talking about.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2630685513261063425&hl=en
I know nobody's really reading this blog now, but someday they shall say... he posted about a stupid movie in Feb, then the link to it in Nov, and now, look where he is... Hee Hee Haa Haa Haa Haa!!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2630685513261063425&hl=en
I know nobody's really reading this blog now, but someday they shall say... he posted about a stupid movie in Feb, then the link to it in Nov, and now, look where he is... Hee Hee Haa Haa Haa Haa!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Gateway
I just got to play my first lead :D.
There's this competition for upcoming directors from across India being produced by Ashok Amritraj for Sony Pix called Gateway. Winner will get an opportunity to debut with a Hollywood project!
So anyways, there's this bunch of directors making short films for the competition and they need actors. After auditions and countless insignificant roles, I finally land a lead in one of the short films. It may have been just one minute of screen time, but it sure felt like I was the hero of some big budget blockbuster! Its a satirical short in which I am proposing to my girl while we are shooting for an ad for "Hodafone" with its famous tag line "Bringing People Together". So in the end the girl rejects the guy (me) and the guy holding the "Together" drops it, picks it up and scurries away.
Lets hope this is the start of something great... there will be more short films being made by these talented directors for the competition and it'll be a good opportunity to get noticed.
There's this competition for upcoming directors from across India being produced by Ashok Amritraj for Sony Pix called Gateway. Winner will get an opportunity to debut with a Hollywood project!
So anyways, there's this bunch of directors making short films for the competition and they need actors. After auditions and countless insignificant roles, I finally land a lead in one of the short films. It may have been just one minute of screen time, but it sure felt like I was the hero of some big budget blockbuster! Its a satirical short in which I am proposing to my girl while we are shooting for an ad for "Hodafone" with its famous tag line "Bringing People Together". So in the end the girl rejects the guy (me) and the guy holding the "Together" drops it, picks it up and scurries away.
Lets hope this is the start of something great... there will be more short films being made by these talented directors for the competition and it'll be a good opportunity to get noticed.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Portfolio, Profile, Filmaka etc.
Just sent a profile pic etc. to Filmaka guys. Lets see if some good short film comes our way. It might be a good way to gain some exposure.
Also have to make a portfolio. Its one of the most hateful things. I mean, how can you judge an actor fairly just by a portfolio. And then you even have to workout to look good in it! Anyways, I think I am ready to get one done at a lean 65 kgs for 5'6". If only I could do something about tumm... uhhh... abs!
I'll post a few of the portfolio photos online for my viewing pleasure (I am pretty sure nobody else is reading this blog, since the counter goes up by one only when I visit my own blog :)
Alright world then, later!
Also have to make a portfolio. Its one of the most hateful things. I mean, how can you judge an actor fairly just by a portfolio. And then you even have to workout to look good in it! Anyways, I think I am ready to get one done at a lean 65 kgs for 5'6". If only I could do something about tumm... uhhh... abs!
I'll post a few of the portfolio photos online for my viewing pleasure (I am pretty sure nobody else is reading this blog, since the counter goes up by one only when I visit my own blog :)
Alright world then, later!
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