Surat, Jaipur to emerge as new metros by 2018: EY

Jaipur and Surat are projected to record real GDP growth of 8.7% & 10.3% resp. during 2015-20

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With the emerging consumption patterns, Jaipur and Surat are set to emerge as the two new A-class metros, with a combined household income of over Rs 80,000 crore each by 2018, which provides significant opportunities to marketers, says a report.

Jaipur and the diamond city Surat in Gujarat are projected to record real GDP growth of 8.7 per cent and 10.3 per cent, respectively during 2015-20, relative to the metros 8.3 per cent, according to an EY report.

These two cities have a cumulative 1.5 million TV households, which is similar to Pune and Kolkata combined, and in print they have been growing in both circulation and ad volume since 2012.

"These cities have very good media penetration. When they hit the Rs 80,000 crore mark, we have seen a lot of spends increasing in the other metros at that time. Digital is one way where media penetration will go up. There will be more Hindi channels coming up, radio is happening more out there, print is well saturated, so that would yield impact," EY India media and entertainment advisory leader Ashish Pherwani said here today.

On the incremental growth to advertising from Jaipur and Surat, he said, "these cities are not being covered by all the mass categories. So the balance of the mass categories will be going into these cities. We'd estimate a minimum of 10-15 per cent should happen there, within a year or two."

The report identifies 42 cities, which are expected to grow at 8.9 per cent compared to the 8 metros at present that are expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.3 per cent in 2015-20.

"Non-metro growth is outstripping the metros. There are clear cases of unmet demand in the top 50 cities in some sectors. This provides a huge opportunity for various sectors to widen and deepen marketing strategies," Pherwani said.

He expects maximum growth to come from non-English channels and radio in Jaipur and Surat, while for other cities it would be the vernacular print that would gain in volume.