MIDDLE CLASS - THE BIG SQUEEZE

HIGH PRICES, CRIPPLING TAX RATES ALONG WITH SHRINKING INCOMES ARE FORCING THIS CRUCIAL DEMOGRAPHIC TO SWALLOW ITS AMBITIONS, AFFECTING INDIA’S GROWTH STORY. HOW BUDGET 2025 CAN END THEIR ECONOMIC DISTRESS

- By M.G. ARUN & SONAL KHETARPAL

Prakash Bhasi, a 54-year-old technician with a packaging company in Mumbai, does not know what to do. Till a couple years back, he had thought the household income of Rs 22 lakh a year would be more than enough to meet the expenses of his three-member family. Yes, he had to pay Rs 45,000 as EMI for the 1BHK apartment he had bought in Navi Mumbai six years ago, and he also sent his elderly parents in Coimbatore Rs 10,000 every month towards their living expenses. But never did he think he would have to dip into his savings. Suddenly, however, Bhasi is beginning to feel the pinch. His expenses have gone up 30 per cent in recent months. “If I go to the local market with Rs 500 in hand, I come back with hardly anything,” he rues. Vegetable prices, in particular, have shot up. He goes for the cheapest consumer goods, even if it means buying unbranded stuff. Bhasi has also had to forgo his ambition of buying a new car, intending instead to buy a used one, at half the cost.