Green Is The New Black

The Indian economy will add another trillion of merchandise in the next 10 years, which means doubling the consumption. This is a great opportunity the country offers, Saloni Nangia, President at Technopak, India, shared in her keynote at the 22nd India Fashion Forum

The Indian economy is roughly about $ 3.5 trillion in 2022. It is expected to cross the $5 trillion mark in 2027. It may reach about $7.6 trillion in the next 10 years, but in an optimistic case, it would be about closer to $8 trillion. Out of $3.5 trillion, about $2 trillion is the consumption, thereby keeping the economy stable; because the economy is driven by private consumption. Out of which, about $1 trillion is the current merchandise retail, and the balance is services retail. It's believed that services will gain a faster share over the next few years. But merchandise also will be growing significantly.

The economy will add trillion-dollar merchandise in the next 10 years, doubling the consumption. In comparison with other countries, China's private consumption is about 30 percent, which is three times of what we consume. But from a market perspective, India is quite close to some of the developed economies. Japan is very close to India as far as the retail market goes, but larger than the UK, and close to Germany, in terms of numbers. We're talking about four billion people. This is a great opportunity the country offers, Saloni Nangia, President at Technopak, India, shared this in her keynote at the 22nd India Fashion Forum held at Conrad Bengaluru from February 28 to March 1, 2023.

A big question is how the retail basket will pan out. $1 trillion in merchandise retail is expected to double, but the share of food and grocery is expected to come down since the Indian economy will become more evolved, she said. "But fashion will become 3x or 4x of what it is today, be it in beauty, footwear, or jewellery. Education will take the largest share, as there is a lot of investment happening there. Food, services, travel, and leisure are all segments expected to grow, but services as a whole will grow faster than merchandise retail.”

Key shifts