ORANGE, GREEN ZONES CAN HELP ECONOMY RECOVER, SAYS LAQSHYA REPORT
Although the ongoing pandemic has had a negative impact on most of the sectors in the industry, there seems to be a ray of hope for the economy to bounce back, starting from a different standpoint as suggested in a recent report published by the Laqshya Media Group. The findings in the study are a compilation of data of the human resources available in the Green and Orange districts. According to the study, both the Green and Orange districts make for a population of more than 83 crore, with a proportional GDP of more than Rs 116 lakh crore. Even then, vast urban aggregations, which are the hubs of India's current economic structure, are in the Red zones. On the positive side, there are large, under-utilized areas of the country with significant human resources which Indian businesses can use to their advantage. The report also states that since the Orange and Green zones are allowed to operate, they should be able to contribute towards helping in the recovery of the country’s GDP, in sync with the Prime Minister’s vision for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. Since Red zones still have a lot of restrictions and are at a standstill in the current situation, Orange and Green zones, which comprise 80% of districts, should be able to rebuild and even exceed their current GDP per capita. The study observes that the current Orange districts contribute to 46% of the total GDP of the country, whereas the Green districts contribute to 19%. This jointly, makes for 65% of India’s total GDP, which is a huge number. Of these, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam are some of the safest zones. The report urges brands and media companies to see the ROI on all addressable, hyper-localisable advertising media which are most suited to these districts, so as to be able to utilize these areas, which has been underpenetrated for a long time now. Speaking on the power of data to make a huge difference even in times like these, Alok Jalan, Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group says, “In the report published by Laqshya, we see a lot of opportunity in the Green and Orange districts for the brands and media owners. Even though major towns and cities will still take time to return to their original productive capabilities, the Green and Orange districts can start contributing to the economy.” However, it is an obvious fact that the number of districts in each colour code will change as the pandemic flows, implying that the findings from the study will also gradually change according to the progress made. To make businesses aware of the kind of opportunity that lies in these underrated zones, the Laqshya Media Group has taken on the task of tracking the movement of opportunity and sending weekly updates for the next several weeks.