National Council of Applied Research and Economics and Future Capital Research in its publication titled “The Next Urban Frontier: Twenty Cities to Watch”, has identified 20 cities and are termed as Megacities, Boomtowns & Niche cities which stand out because of their potential to be next set of large-populjation cities and relatively high expenditure per household and Bhopal has been identified as the Boomtown.
Bhopal, as the Boomtown city is coupled with large population with high spending per household, resulting in the next pool of big consumer markets.
- Bhopal as the Boomtown has seen the most striking shift in income distribution.
- Bhopal as the Boomtown, on average, spends 13% more than Megacities on clothing.
- Bhopal as the Boomtown has the highest penetration of life Insurance.
- Bhopal as the Boomtown has the highest proportion of ‘overstretched’ households.
That’s how Bhopal is emerging as the favoured destination for the retail sector with its huge growth potential wherein the disposal income is 78 % and reports to have the income distribution of 0.7% high income, 24.4 % middle class and 35.8 % Aspirants.