MAM
Rural India sees a three-fold growth in the usage of e-commerce apps: Report
Mumbai: Rural India is on the periphery of an e-commerce revolution. There has been a massive increase in the number of users of e-commerce apps in the last six to eight months, according to the latest edition of the Rural Barometer Report. The rural population is now looking at digital as a medium that provides economically valuable information/services with digital consumption shifting beyond basic services such as entertainment and social media, the report stated.
Insights and consulting company Kantar, along with GroupM’s rural and experiential marketing unit- Dialogue Factory has unveiled the third edition of its bi-annual report. It explores concerns about the post-pandemic impact on consumer behaviour and purchase patterns across rural India.
According to the report, digital financial inclusion continues to see a growing footprint, and payment apps especially have created a fertile ground for the advancement of e-commerce in rural hinterlands.
More vocational information is being consumed via the internet, though entertainment and social media remain the dominant factors of internet usage, said the report. There is an emerging constituency of technology-enabled farmers, who are using digital apps to track their crops. The Rural Barometer Report indicates that five per cent of farmers were using crop monitoring apps and this digital adoption for crop monitoring is the strongest in the states of Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat.
Some of the other key highlights of this latest version of the Rural Barometer Report are:
FMCG witnessing the resurgence of indulgence and vanity categories: The pandemic had profoundly changed FMCG spending in rural India. Through the lockdown and the first half of 2021, consumers continued to prioritise health and hygiene categories under uncertain financial circumstances. As a result, indulgence and vanity categories remained subdued until the first half of 2021. The report shows a rebalancing of the FMCG spends. Food categories such as biscuits and chocolates, snacking, etc, and personal care and beauty categories bounced back and show positive momentum for growth.
On the flipside, health and nutrition, along with job security remain a concern. The findings show that the nutrition and health of one in five children are of concern. Due to continued patriarchal notions, the girl child is not being provided a sufficient protein-based diet.
In terms of sentiments regarding job security, lower social classes (NCCS CDE) and rural youth (18-24-year-olds) have been the most affected, as per the report.
“The pandemic has changed ways of living for rural India,” said Dialogue Factory head of experiential marketing- APAC Dalveer Singh. “We see our rural citizens more vigilant about their consumption patterns. As per the Rural Covid Barometer Report 2021, rural India is more confident in recovery and adopting new technology and putting it to the right use. There are existing concerns like nutrition and health of children in rural areas but thanks to government intervention, rural purchasing power has improved.”
“Close to a fifth of rural India is concerned about the health parameters of their children. We’ve also witnessed rebalancing in FMCG spending. With technology penetrating further and rural consumers evolving in this digital and e-commerce led era, we see a brighter tomorrow in rural regions,” Singh further said.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
