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UPI MDR October 2026 — 0.4% merchant discount rate launching mid-festive season, Rs 2000 threshold impact on merchant behaviour | Maction Consulting

UPI Stops Being Free for Merchants on October 15 — And It Lands Mid-Festive Season

NPCI issued a circular on September 15 that ends six years of zero-cost UPI for merchants. From October 15, a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate applies to person-to-merchant transactions above Rs 2,000, cap...

India bank liquidity surplus ₹11 lakh crore 2026 — what it means for festive season EMI demand and consumer durables research | Maction Consulting

India’s Banks Are Sitting on a Record ₹11 Lakh Crore Surplus — Right Before Festive Season

India’s banking system is sitting on the largest cash surplus in its recorded history — roughly ₹11 lakh crore, or $115 billion, in excess rupee liquidity — and the RBI began actively draining i...

RAI festive retail recovery 2026 — 8% national growth with North South at 9% and West East at 6%, regional divergence analysis | Maction Consulting

Retail Is Recovering Ahead of Festive Season — But “Measured Recovery” Isn’t the Same Everywhere

The Retailers Association of India released its latest Business Survey this week, and the topline is genuinely encouraging: retail grew 8% year-on-year in July, with store-level demand — the RAI&#8217...

August 2026 GST collections India — 14.8% headline vs 9.3% domestic growth and 8.3% net growth after refunds | Maction Consulting

August GST Collections Rose 14.8% — But the Number Underneath It Is the One Worth Reading

India’s gross GST collections came in at ₹1,99,853 crore for August, released September 1 — a healthy-looking 14.8% jump over last year, edging right up to the ₹2 lakh crore mark. On a headline ...

India GDP Q1 FY27 — investment matched consumption at 3.95 percentage points each, what it means for brand research and consumer demand | Maction Consulting

India’s GDP Grew 7.8% Last Quarter — But the Consumer Isn’t Who Drove It This Time

India’s GDP grew 7.8% in the April-June quarter, comfortably beating the RBI’s own 7% forecast, and most of the coverage this week has understandably led with that headline number. The det...

Quick commerce as a product launch channel for D2C brands in India — Blinkit Zepto Swiggy Instamart festive season 2026 | Maction Consulting

Quick Commerce Isn’t Just Fast Delivery Anymore — It’s Where D2C Brands Are Launching Products

A wave of Indian D2C startups is using this festive season to launch new products — not on their own websites, not through a traditional retail rollout, but directly on Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamar...

India calibrated consumption 2026 — Deloitte Consumer Signals data on spending intent, financial wellbeing, and brand research implications | Maction Consulting

Calibrated Consumption”: Why the Indian Consumer Isn’t Cutting Back — Just Getting Pickier

Deloitte’s latest Consumer Signals India report has put a name to something a lot of category-level research has been circling around for a while without quite pinning down: “calibrated co...

FMCG Q1 FY27 India — HUL Dabur Britannia revenue growth vs volume growth and pack size trends | Maction Consulting

HUL, Dabur, and Britannia Just Posted Strong Growth — But the Pack Size Is Shrinking

India’s FMCG majors opened FY27 with numbers that, on the surface, look like a genuine turnaround. Hindustan Unilever posted 10% year-on-year revenue growth to ₹17,341 crore in the June quarter ...

Big Billion Days 2026 pre-sale consumer research — what brands should measure before Flipkart and Amazon festive sale dates are confirmed | Maction Consulting

Before the Big Billion Days: What Brands Should Be Measuring in the Next Five Weeks

Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival haven’t been officially confirmed for 2026 yet, but both platforms are expected to open within days of each other in th...