Demand for premium.

"The United States (US), France and Armenia have emerged as the top three destinations for Indian defence exports, with Armenia in particular being the biggest client of 'finished' Indian weapons and equipment like 155mm artillery guns and the Akash air defence missile and Pinaka multi-launch rocket systems, The Times of India reported." India's defence exports were worth Rs 210.83 billion ($2.63 billion) in 2-23-24. BS. Armenia was routed by Azerbaijan in a short war in September 2023, ceding control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a matter of days. wikipedia. Azerbaijan obtained a lot of its weapons from Turkey. Reuters. India's merchandise exports rose slightly to $34.58 billion in September from $34.41 billion a year ago. However, exports have been declining every month from $38.13 billion in May. Trade deficit was lower at $20.78 billion. Mint. India is largely dependent on China. "India's exports to China in 2023-24 stood at USD 16.65 billion, while imports aggregated at USD 101.75 billion, leaving a trade deficit of over USD 85 billion." ET. "Formal job creation under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) went up by 6.8% in August to 2.07 million compared to 1.94 million in August 2023." ET. "India's formal job market witnessed a decline in August with all three social security schemes recording a fall in new subscribers, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed." ET. More jobs, or less? Never mind. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) "has stuck to its forecast that India's economy will expand 7.2% in the year ending March 2025 despite recent evidence showing activity is starting to taper off. The RBI's outlook is far more optimistic than the 6.5%-7% growth projected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government." HT. "In the 1950s, manufacturing was about 10% of India's economy. Since 2010, it has averaged about 17.7%." "The share of manufacturing has never reached even 20%." "The key reason is this: As incomes rise, our consumption patterns tend to shift towards services." "As demand for services increases, the local production of services must also rise, since these cannot be imported, unlike manufactured goods," wrote Prof Vidya Mahambare. "India's attempts at boosting its manufacturing sector by capitalizing on the US-China trade war have fallen short, according to a new study." "Between 2017 and 2023, India's total share in US imports rose by 0.6 percentage points to 2.7%," while Vietnam's share rose by 1.7 points to 3.7%. Taiwan increased its share by 1% and South Korea by 0.7%. ET. Quarterly earnings calls of several consumer goods companies "indicated short-term pressure on sales of essentials and mass-priced products in India, even as demand remained strong for premium and discretionary products." ET. Passenger cars in the premium category have a waiting period of up to 96 weeks, while in the volume segment some models are attracting discounts of up to Rs 450.000." ET. Mr Modi wants Indians to buy local this festival season. MC. But, it's all Chinese. Missiles are local. Are they available?