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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.

Drowning in Liquor

Updated: Mar 12


Bhupesh Baghel
Bhupesh Baghel

The spectre of corruption has once again cast a long shadow over the Opposition Congress in Chhatisgarh after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the Bhilai residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, searching for evidence in a money laundering case linked to an alleged liquor scam. The agency’s primary target was Baghel’s son, Chaitanya, who is accused of receiving illicit proceeds from a syndicate that allegedly siphoned off Rs. 2,161 crore.


The raids, which extended to 14 locations, also covered premises linked to Laxmi Narayan Bansal, a close associate of Chaitanya Baghel. The ED alleges that during Baghel’s tenure from 2018 to 2023, an elaborate liquor syndicate flourished in Chhattisgarh. According to investigators, a nexus of politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen illegally controlled liquor sales, skimming off thousands of crores from the state’s excise revenue.


The probe has already ensnared senior Congress figures, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma, ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja, and Arvind Singh. Assets worth Rs. 205 crore have been attached, and investigators claim they have evidence linking Chaitanya Baghel to the proceeds of the scheme.


Predictably, Baghel and the Congress are crying foul. The former chief minister, who was recently appointed Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab, called the raids politically motivated, an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to silence him. He alleges that ED officials seized Rs. 33 lakh in accounted-for cash and documents exposing corruption by BJP leaders. Congress leaders, including Sachin Pilot, have also accused the BJP of weaponizing central agencies to target political rivals, pointing to the timing of the raids as proof of vendetta politics.


Parties within the opposition INDIA bloc have long accused the Modi government of misusing agencies like the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to weaken the opposition. In recent months, this narrative has gained traction as multiple senior opposition figures – ex-Delhi CM and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren and now Baghel - have found themselves in the ED’s crosshairs. After Kejriwal, Baghel is the second former CM to be embroiled in a liquor scam.


Rather than addressing the allegations, Baghel has chosen to deflect. His office released a statement implying that the raids were an attempt to derail his new role as Congress’s Punjab in-charge. His party, as if on cue, rushed to label the ED’s action as a case of political vendetta on part of the ruling BJP. With its national credibility at rock-bottom, if the Congress were serious about fighting corruption in Chhattisgarh, then it ought support a full-fledged probe rather than resort to street protests and Assembly disruptions.


Yet, even if the crackdown has political motivations, the deeper problem for the opposition is that these allegations are sticking. The liquor scam accusations against Kejriwal’s AAP have already eroded its anti-corruption plank, which stand in tatters after the party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls. Kejriwal’s refusal to directly answer ED summons and his constant attempts to paint himself as a victim ultimately came a cropper. The AAP narrative of being unfairly targeted cut no ice with Delhi’s electorate when placed alongside the overwhelming evidence of manipulated excise policies and financial irregularities.


Now, the same allegations against a key Congress leader further tarnish the INDIA bloc’s image. If the opposition is to take on the BJP effectively, it must not only counter these cases politically but also demonstrate that it is not tainted by the very corruption it seeks to fight.


Baghel’s fate now hangs in the balance. If the ED gathers further evidence linking him or his son to illicit dealings, his political future and the Congress’s standing in Chhattisgarh could be in jeopardy. Voters expect accountability, and if the ED’s investigation into Chhattisgarh’s liquor scam ensures that stolen public money is recovered, it will only reinforce the BJP’s image as the party serious about cleaning up the system.

 

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