That the rich got richer during the pandemic has become more evident with research data showing just 20 per cent of the population are leading the discretionary consumption wagon, as the rest are still recovering.

The pandemic has not impacted affluent consumers’ income levels in the country is clear from the fact that the top 20 per cent of the population account for the bulk of discretionary consumption--59 per cent in rural areas and 66 per cent in urban areas, Tanvee Gupta-Jain, chief economist at UBS Securities India, said in a report.