Every Friday, Plain Facts publishes a compilation of data-based insights, complete with easy-to-read charts, to help you delve deeper into the stories reported by Mint in the week gone by. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a five-year extension to the free ration scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. The combined viewership for OTT platforms increased by 13.5% in 2023, but the growth rate has slowed, data from Ormax showed.
Extended security
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year, the government has decided to extend the free foodgrain scheme, originally set to conclude after December, for an additional five years. The PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) was started during the time of covid-19 crisis. It was amalgamated with some tweaks with the National Food Security Act in December 2022, and extended by a year till December 2023. The need of a five-year extension brings back the question whether distress is persistent among poor Indians.
Festive boom
The festive quarter of October-December this year is expected to be the best-ever festive period for home sales, industry estimates show. Anarock Property Consultants has predicted a potential 25-30% surge compared to the year-ago period, which saw an estimated 92,164 units sold in the top seven cities. From January to September, there has been a significant surge in sales already, with 84,400 homes priced at ₹1.5 crore and above sold, marking a 115% year-on-year increase.
Rebuilding Dharavi
$1.5 billion: That's the amount the Adani group is considering to invest to start the redevelopment work at Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, Mint reported. The slum, Asia's largest, is a sprawling 590-acre compound consisting of haphazardly arranged structures and fragile tenements. The deteriorating buildings provide shelter to over 900,000 residents, along with numerous small commercial establishments. The Adani group had emerged as the highest bidder for the redevelopment project in November last year.
OTT dynamics
The surge in streaming video during the covid-19 pandemic has now relatively slowed, as fresh entertainment choices emerge and cities become saturated with OTT subscriptions. The combined viewership for OTT platforms increased by 13.5% in 2023, reaching 481.1 million, a report by media consulting firm Ormax showed. The previous year had seen a 20% growth. The overall SVoD (subscription video-on-demand) universe has grown by 18%. Streaming apps have now reached 34% of India’s population of 1.4 billion.
Jobs scenario
The second part of Plain Facts’ preview series ahead of the 2024 elections focused on jobs. India's unemployment rate declined to a six-year low of 3.2% during July 2022 and June 2023, data released last month in the annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed. This is a sharp improvement since 2017-18. However, the quality of jobs are a problem, as the share of self-employed workers, primarily unpaid helpers, has grown.
Expansion plans
₹5,000 crore: That's the amount green mobility solutions provider GreenLine is planning to invest for expanding its two-year-old logistics services operations, Mint reported. The group will invest about ₹850 crore to add 1,000 liquefied natural gas trucks to its fleet in this financial year and over ₹4,000 crore in FY25 to raise the deployment by another 5,000 units. It also plans to explore options for deploying electric trucks on short-haul operations.
FMCG recovery
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector saw a 9% rise in sales by value and 8.6% by volumes in the September quarter, according to market researcher NielsenIQ. The growth was led by higher demand for savoury snacks and biscuits and strong demand for personal care products in rural markets. Volumes growth was 10.2% in urban markets and 6.4% in rural markets. While rural markets are showing signs of recovery, urban areas are maintaining a stable rate of consumption growth, NIQ said.
Chart of the week: Minting money
Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter boss Elon Musk have often been at loggerheads. In the past year, Zuckerberg's net worth more than tripled to $109 billion, while that of Musk shrank by $9 billion to $195 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Follow our data stories on the “In Charts” and “Plain Facts” pages on the Mint website