New Delhi, Feb. 2 -- Following finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's proposed income tax relief for salaried individuals, India's consumer industry executives are looking forward to a rate cut that could provide a further boost to fire up India's sluggish urban consumption.

Consumption, particularly in urban markets, has been battered by high food inflation and low income growth in recent months, resulting in calls for the Reserve Bank of India to cut its policy rate to spur spending.

The banking regulator in Decembermaintained the repo rate at 6.5% for an 11th consecutive time. RBI's monetary policy committee, its rate-setting panel, will next meet on 7 February.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February, in her budget speech ...