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23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local....

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local. This reversal owes much to policy. The recent rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which trimmed rates across categories from garments to home furnishings, has given consumption a timely push. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s September rate cuts, combined with income tax relief and easing interest rates, have strengthened household budgets just as inflation softened. The middle class, long squeezed between rising costs and stagnant wages, has found reason to spend again. Retailers report that shoppers filled their bags with everything from lab-grown diamonds and casual wear to consumer durables and décor, blurring the line between necessity and indulgence. The effect has been broad-based. According to Crisil Ratings, 40 organised apparel retailers, who together generate roughly a third of the sector’s revenue, could see growth of 13–14 percent this financial year, aided by a 200-basis-point bump from GST cuts alone. Small traders too have flourished. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimates that 85 percent of total festive trade came from non-corporate and traditional markets, a robust comeback for brick-and-mortar retail that had been under siege from online rivals. This surge signals a subtle but significant cultural shift. The “Vocal for Local” and “Swadeshi Diwali” campaigns struck a patriotic chord, with consumers reportedly preferring Indian-made products to imported ones. Demand for Chinese goods fell sharply, while sales of Indian-manufactured products rose by a quarter over last year. For the first time in years, “buying Indian” has become both an act of economic participation and of national pride. The sectoral spread of this boom underlines its breadth. Groceries and fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 12 percent of the total, gold and jewellery 10 percent, and electronics 8 percent. Even traditionally modest categories like home furnishings, décor and confectionery recorded double-digit growth. In the smaller towns that anchor India’s consumption story, traders say stable prices and improved affordability kept registers ringing late into the festive weekend. Yet, much of this buoyancy rests on a fragile equilibrium. Inflation remains contained, and interest rates have been eased, but both could tighten again. Sustaining this spurt will require continued fiscal prudence and regulatory clarity, especially as digital commerce continues to expand its reach. Yet for now, the signs are auspicious. After years of subdued demand and inflationary unease, India’s shoppers appear to have rediscovered their appetite for consumption and their faith in domestic enterprise. The result is not only a record-breaking Diwali, but a reaffirmation of the local marketplace as the heartbeat of India’s economy.

BJP’s massive mandate delaying govt formation

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

BJP

Mumbai: Contrary to popular perception that the clear majority to Mahayuti has made the way for government formation in Maharashtra easy, the huge mandate to the BJP is actually delaying the process of government formation in the state.


DCM Devendra Fadnavis left for Delhi on Monday where he is likely to have a meeting with union home minister Amit Shah and the detailed program of government formation is likely to be chalked out. However, the key procedures like election of state BJP legislature party leader are yet to be taken place and hence, even if the nitty-gritties of government formation are finalized tonight it will take at least two more days to complete the mandatory procedures.


The biggest hurdle in government formation as of now is the power sharing formula. When the Mahayuti government came to power in the state in 2022, the BJP shared power equally with the Shiv Sena under Eknath Shinde. Though they were almost twice the strength of Shiv Sena in the house, the number of ministerial posts shared between the two parties were equal. In 2023, when NCP under Ajit Pawar joined in, the power sharing formula didn’t change and all the three parties had equal number of ministerial berths in the government.


The BJP had accepted the equal sharing of power with the allies to be able to form the government and keep it running back then. However, the massive mandate of 132 seats to BJP has changed all equations now. State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule hinted at a possibility, on Monday, when he warned Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) that if they continue to target Devendra Fadnavis their strength shall further reduce to 2 from the current 20. This is also being interpreted as a veiled warning to the Mahayuti allies that if the power sharing formula is not agreed to, the BJP can once again go in for generating split within opposition parties and attain simple majority easily.


While senior state BJP office bearers, including Bawankule, have been saying that they see no problem in formation of the government, they were not forthcoming on explaining the exact reasons behind the delay in government formation. The Shiv Sena and the NCP have conducted the meetings of the newly elected MLAs and chosen their respective legislature party leaders. However, the BJP seems to be in no hurry to even decide upon the date of such a meeting. Bawankule has announced party's new target of having 1.5 crore new members and has even started mobilizing party apparatus for that by planning extensive meetings of district heads and the 'vistarak's that were sent out to 130 assembly constituencies. However, he hasn't yet announced the date for legislature party meeting. When asked about it, he said, "What is the need to hurry. We are firmly in the saddle. We have numbers on our side. No other party will be able to form government in the state and hence we are taking our time to do so."


Party insiders, however, suggested that the whole power sharing formula is being re-drawn. Apart from the ministerial posts, posts of guardian ministers and existing state-owned corporations, the formula to share local bodies and over a couple of dozen new corporations that were announced just prior to elections too are being considered while devising the new power sharing formula.


In the past two and half years of the government under Eknath Shinde, the Mahayuti had witnessed bitter fights over guardian ministership and other posts. Hence every possibility is being considered before finalizing the formula, sources said.

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