The fourth largest sector of the Indian economy is poised for growth of 16% during 2008-09, from a base of Rs. 85470 crore, as per FICCI. Going forward, as anticipated by CRISIL, the FMCG sector will touch around Rs. 140,000 crore by 2015 ($33.4 billion). This post will outline some tips for growth in the FMCG sector and update with the contemporary trends of the category. Growth drivers: FMCG sector1. Disposable Income: There is an increase in disposable income, observed in both rural and urban consumers, which is giving an opportunity to many rural consumers to shift from traditional unorganized and unbranded products to branded FMCG products and the urban fraternity of indulge in the luxury of value-added and lifestyle products. The increase in wages, along with the growing trend of benefits in the corporate sector at regular intervals, have increased the purchasing power of people. According to some research, there is a high correlation between disposable products per capita and HPC per capita.2. Organized Retail: The emergence of organized retail has led to greater variety and ease in navigation, comparison opportunities with different products in a category, single destination (entertainment, food and shopping) etc., which is playing a important role in bringing the boom to the Indian FMCG market. Modern commerce currently occupies 5% of the total retail floor space, which will increase to 10% and 25% in 2010 and 2025 respectively. Furthermore, with the trend of credit cards and organized retail picking up, people won't think much while buying and will buy more. Depth of Distribution - Rural Penetration: There are 5500 cities and 6.38 villages in the Lakes with 2.5 million and 5 million outlets respectively. Due to saturation and cut-throat competition in urban India, many FMCG companies are devising strategies to target rural consumers on a large scale. Many FMCG companies are focusing on expanding their distribution network to penetrate in a phased plan. This is why the size of the urban FMCG market has dropped from 50% to 29% in the last 5 years. The FMCG market size for semi-urban and rural segment was 19% and 52% respectively for the year 2006-2007. According to FICCI, the FMCG market size for urban, semi-urban and rural areas for the year 2007-08 was projected to be 57%, 21% and 22%, which clearly shows that rural market is the driving force of the growth of consumer goods. While urban markets are also growing, the incremental increase in consumer households is much greater in rural spaces than in urban markets. The planned development of roads, ports, railways and airports will increase the penetration of FMCG in the long term.