India's consumption story has now gone in reverse swing, says Congress

Congress has said stagnant wages, high inflation and growing economic inequality in the past 10 years have made India's consumption story go in a reverse swing. Maintaining that this low consumption rate has made "a leading CEO" lament that the Indian middle class "is shrinking", Congress warned that without adequate growth in consumption, India's private sector will be unwilling to invest in new production.

"In the last ten years, India's consumption story has now gone in reverse swing and emerged as the biggest pain point for the Indian economy. India Inc has now joined the chorus, with a leading CEO even going so far as to say that the middle class in India is 'shrinking'," said Jairam Ramesh, AICC communications in-charge in an official statement on Wednesday, attributing it to stagnant wages, high inflation and growing economic inequality.

"India is in its most precarious and difficult economic situation in many years. Wage stagnation, inflation, and inequality are not just political issues -- they are structurally corrosive to India's long-term growth prospects. They undermine India's consumption growth and deprive the private sector of its single-most important incentive to invest. These chokepoints will strangulate growth in the years to come if not taken seriously now, in a spirit of humility," he said.