In December 2023, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation rose.
The unemployment rate fell for the second consecutive month. Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) outflow surged, but mutual funds recorded inflows. Crude oil prices fell, and consumption rose.
In December 2023, private insurers sold around 9.5 lakh policies, with their first-year premium rising 4.1% YoY to Rs 15,599.8 crore.
In contrast, LIC sold 17 lakh schemes, witnessing a 93.8% YoY increase in first-year premiums to Rs 22,981.3 crore. Its market share also increased by 15.4 percentage points YoY.
The Indian cement sector is currently seeing a phase of rapid consolidation. Smaller players are either being acquired or struggling to survive, as large players threaten their margins with price wars.
The automobile industry’s overall retail sales rose 21.1% YoY in December 2023 to 19.9 lakh units. Two-wheeler and car retail sales also went up by 27.6% YoY to around 14.5 lakh units and 2.7% YoY to 2.9 lakh units, respectively.
All segments of the industry observed a YoY rise during this period.
The total number of passengers carried by domestic airlines rose by 9% YoY in November to 127.4 lakh. Total departures by scheduled carriers increased by 6.9% YoY, but fell by 2.4% MoM to 85,906.
The total value of credit card transactions rose 39.8% YoY to Rs 1,61,035.4 crore. The number of cards outstanding increased by 20% YoY. Private sector banks grew by 44.2% YoY in terms of the value of transactions.
Automobile wholesales of listed companies rose 7.8% YoY to 11.5 lakh units in December. Exports were up 5.4% YoY to 2,37,723 units.
Domestic two-wheeler wholesales of listed companies increased by 11% YoY to around 8.1 lakh units and passenger vehicles rose by 1.6% YoY to 1.8 lakh units.
