Demand for FMCG revives in October on GST boost
India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market has rebounded in October after seeing a moderation in growth levels in the September quarter due to GST transition issues. Data shared by retail intelligence platform Bizom shows that all-India value growth for October 2025 touched 6.8% versus 6.2% reported in the July-September period. Bizom does not provide volume growth figures. It tracks value growth across categories.
Urban revival and narrowing growth gap
The improvement in value growth was led by urban growth which revived on the back of greater affordability of products due to GST cuts, Harshit Bora, analytics head, Bizom, said. Urban growth in October stood at 6.3%, while rural growth was 7.1%.
In the September quarter, urban growth was 5.4%, while rural growth was 6.7%, the retail intelligence platform said.
Category Leaders
Among categories, branded commodities, chocolates & confectionary, personal care and dairy products reported a year-on-year growth of 9.2%, 10.1%, 11.8% and 18.6% each for the month under review. Laggards included beverages, which declined 2% y-o-y on account of unseasonal rains, home care, which was flat, and packaged foods, which grew 2.7% versus last year.
“The gap between urban and rural growth is decreasing, which is visible in October,” Bora said. “The policy shifts through calendar year 2025 including incomes tax cuts, reduction in interest rates and now GST cuts have favoured urban areas,” he said.
Most FMCG CEOs have said that the domestic FMCG market will see a virtuous cycle of growth following a normalisation of the trade pipeline after GST cuts were initiated in September. While most firms, including Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Dabur, Marico and Godrej Consumer (GCPL) had indicated this improvement would show up in November, Bizom data suggests it is visible in October itself, pointing to the speed with which GST 2.0 reforms have ushered growth, experts said.
In an interview with FE last week, Marico’s MD & CEO Saugata Gupta said that he saw GST reduction being transformational for the FMCG sector. “We are far more optimistic about the sector now than we were earlier. Rural growth has been looking up for multiple quarters now. Urban growth was slower, largely at the mass end of the market, but we are witnessing steady improvement. With the GST cuts, products have become affordable to consumers,” he said.
Gupta also said that he saw a shift from unbranded to branded consumption on account of GST cuts, especially, in foods, which would aid growth for branded players operating in the category. Angshu Mallick, executive deputy chairman, AWL Agri Business, best-known for its Fortune brand of edible oil, said he saw the consumption of branded pulses and commodities getting a fillip away from loose and unbranded consumption due to the rationalisation of GST rates.
Bizom says that the trends visible in October will get better in November as the full impact of the GST 2.0 reforms plays out in the domestic FMCG market. Companies have also signalled that they will increase direct distribution across urban and rural markets and will increase spends on brand-building and innovation to capitalise on the momentum in the marketplace.
