Rural growth outpaces urban demand, trend to continue over next 6 months: Pidilite MD Bharat Puri

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Rural growth, which was lagging after the pandemic, has outpaced urban demand and this trend is likely to continue over the next six months led by a good monsoon, Pidilite Industries Managing Director Bharat Puri said. Moreover, as the inflationary pressure cools down after two years of volatility, Puri said now he sees 'stability' in input prices, which is providing him with a lot more elbow room to invest back into the marketplace.

Puri says he is «increasingly optimistic» as he looks forward as there is clearly increased construction activity, leading to good demand. The company, which recently entered into the Paints market and has a presence in 2-3 states, would expand further to other markets based on consumer responses.

It is an organic business for Pidilite, which will grow steadily, he added. When asked about the current quarter (July-September), Puri said there has been disruption at some places due to rains.

«Q2 up to now has been a very unnatural quarter simply because of these massive rain incidences… So, we have disruptions in the North,» said Puri in a virtual media roundtable. However, he also added: «But overall, I would say that once all of this stabilises, we do not see a great difference between conditions in Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 actually, but this question will probably be best answered four weeks later, once we get a lot more stability in the natural circumstances.» On outlook on volume growth, Puri said «We divide our business into three categories core, growth and pioneer.

Given the first quarter, we expect the same trends to continue for the rest of the year,» he added. Consumers are reappraising their relationship with the home, both in terms of investing in the house, new homes or upgrading