If consumption, or in other words, spending by the public, is the sounding board for a sound economy, the Indian economy definitely seems to be on shaky ground. At least going by some of the statistics released about consumption patterns in February.
From car and bike sales to even the digital payment system of UPI, degrowth seems to be the order of the day.
Just to sample, the three biggies of the automobile sector surely had better days, looking back at their February figures. Market leader Maruti registered a drop in all but one of its categories, hatchbacks, compacts and light commercial vehicles, and managed to inch past February last year’s figures solely on the back of the sales of SUVs which saved the day. Total domestic sales—just about 100 units more than last February.
Hyundai India, which had a successful IPO recently which was to be a harbinger for ramping up operations, is now making cautious noises that it remains optimistic. Hyundai did have some good results to show on paper, but only thanks to the more than 10,000 units it managed to export last month.
When it comes to domestic demand, Hyundai India COO Tarun Garg said he remained optimistic that “the proposed tax reforms in the budget and improved liquidity will provide the much-needed demand boost to the market.”
Tata Motors also registered a drop in sales figures, with February 2025 registering about 8,000 units less than February 2024. Worse, it registered a distinct fall in categories like heavy vehicles, trucks and pick-ups—all vehicles used for commercial and business activities, meaning their drop in sales means there is an overall lack of confidence holding people back from investing in capacity.
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The biggest indicator would well be the drop in UPI transactions. In February, UPI reported 21.96 lakh crore rupees worth of transactions, compared to 23.48 lakh crore rupees the month before.
Electricity consumption was also low in the latest reported figures, though Paras Jasrai, senior economic analyst at India Ratings and Research attributed this probably to the unusual rise in temperatures.
But moving away from consumption, key sectoral growth rates have all become reasons for concern. Key indicators like infrastructure output growth, coal, and steel, all saw moderation in the latest reported statistics.
