India’s vast rural hinterland, which makes up 70 percent of the South Asian country’s population, is showing signs of recovery from last year’s cash crunch, boosting optimism that increased spending will help the broader economy regain its vigor. The microfinance industry is rebounding, real rural incomes are rising and unemployment is falling. Micro-finance disbursements, which grew 13 percent last year compared with 80 percent the prior year, are expected to return to pre-ban levels in three to six months. Normal rains so far in 2017 and a bumper crop in 2016 after a two-year drought has generated more jobs for rural Indians who work the land — some 70 percent of rural households who are landless. That has helped push up two-wheeler sales and the production of consumer non-durables in this segment. Shares of companies with substantial rural customer bases are experiencing steady growth. While falling farm prices have hit many rural Indians hard, they have also boosted purchasing power and consumption among the population which could help a broader recovery in the Indian economy that’s suffering from a slowdown in growth, soured loans, and weaker manufacturing sector.