Investment Pattern Of Distinct Economic Classes Of Western India: Impact And Reverberation Of Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

India’s growth is considerably influenced by different economic classes with remarkable financial contribution. This paper attempts to study the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on investment behaviour of economic classes.  Economic class is grouping of individuals on the basis of their earnings. Fundamentally, there are three classes including upper, lower and middle. Population with an annual income of 2.5 lacs to 20 lacs is regarded as middle class and below 2.5 lacs and above 20 lacs are considered as lower and upper class respectively. In finance, investment is procuring any item, commodity or an asset with an intention to generate income and wealth through diverse strategies and it can also be deposition of funds in defined services. During this ongoing pandemic, the fear of unforeseen and financial challenges faced by businesses, salaried employees and others. Therefore, this research focuses on certain objectives like assessing determinants and motivators of investment, investing options normally availed by different classes of people, channels of investment accessible to them and impact of pandemic on investment preferences of investors.Sample is collected from three major states of western India specifically Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan using simple random sampling. Primary data has been collected using questionnaire, telephonic interview etc. and secondary data from internet, journals, and textbooks. Exploratory research method has been used. Researcher has applied chi square test to check the hypothesis whether there is significant impact of COVID-19 on investment behaviour of individuals.From this analysis, it has been observed that only upper-class investors are interested in gold, real estate, stock market and mutual funds while major population of middle and lower class wish to invest in fixed deposits, PPF and insurance. Further, it is discovered that pandemic has significantly affected investment of population.