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Correspondent

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.

Donald Trump says he asked Apple CEO to limit expansion in India


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Doha [Qatar]: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he had spoken with the Apple CEO Tim Cook and asked him to limit Apple's expansion in India.


"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion but now I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India," President Trump said while addressing a news conference in Doha, Qatar.


Recently, Apple took some steps to expand its iPhone production in India, setting up assembly plants operating in the country. Two of these plants are located in Tamil Nadu, and one is in Karnataka. For these plants Apple has signed contract with manufacturers, such as Foxconn and Tata Group to set up production units.


In the last fiscal year, Apple produced USD 22 billion worth of iPhones in India in the 12 months through March 2025, which is a huge 60 per cent jump from the prior year.Apple manufactured approximately 40-45 million iPhones in India in 2024, accounting for 18-20 per cent of its global output. Of this, about 15 million were exported to the US, 13 million to other international markets, and about 12 million were sold in the Indian market.


In January 2025, Apple achieved an 11th consecutive quarterly revenue record in India, with iPhone sales estimated at USD 10 billion in 2024.India stands as the Apple's fourth-largest market globally in 2024, after the US, China, and Japan.


As reported last month, driven by the escalating trade tensions and high reciprocal tariffs announced by both China and US against each other, in a strategic move Apple decided to transition all production of iPhones destined for the US market to India from China.



Since then, the US and China have arrived at an agreement that they will withdraw their previously announced reciprocal tariffs and counter tariffs for an initial period of 90 days. The tariffs for 90 days are reduced by 115 per cent, by both US and China against each other. China will impose 10 per cent tariffs on US goods, and the US will tax Chinese goods at about 30 per cent.

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