India, Jan. 29 -- The cry for a boost to revive India's consumption story turns louder as the day of the Union Budget for 2025-26 nears. Higher interest rates, tepid salary hikes, poor job prospects, and a host of factors have sent out warning signals for consumer services startups and B2C tech companies across sectors.

The urban FMCG and retail sector, a key driver of India's consumption narrative, has suffered a major slowdown in the mass-market segments through most part of 2024 with companies reporting a slump in sales.

D2C brands and ecommerce marketplaces have so far staved off the slowdown that legacy FMCG and retail players have been grappling with - largely because of premiumisation and deep discounting - but a deceleration is ...