top of page

By:

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.

Indian Armed Forces displayed valour and bravery, scripted new history: Rajnath Singh lauds Operation Sindoor


ree

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that the Indian Armed Forces displayed their valour and bravery in Operation Sindoor, scripting a new history, and took action against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and POJK with "precision, alertness and sensitivity".



Speaking at an event for the inauguration of 50 Border Roads Organisation infrastructure projects across six states and two UTs, Rajnath Singh said that the armed forces showed sensitivity in ensuring that the civilian population is not affected during their action.



He also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his full support to the armed forces.



India's precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.



"You know that today, under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi, our Indian armed forces have made us all proud...Last night, our Indian armed forces displayed their valour and bravery, and scripted a new history. Indian armed forces took action with precision, alertness and sensitiveness. The targets we decided where accurately demolished with precision.. Our armed forces also showed sensitivity in ensuring that the civilian population is not affected at all," Rajnath Singh said.



"In a way, we can say that Indian jawans showed precision, alertness and humanity. On behalf of the entire country, I congratulate the jawans and officers," he added.



Earlier in the day, at a joint briefing on Operation Sindoor, in which nine terrorist camps were targeted by the Indian Armed Forces with precision strikes, Foreign Secretay Vikram Misri said the terror attack in Pahalgam was marked with extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots at close range and in front of their family.



"The family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir," he said.



Misri said that Indian intelligence agencies had been monitoring terrorist activities and raised concerns regarding more terrorist attacks in India.



"Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India are impending. Thus, compulsion, both to deter and prevent and hence earlier this morning, India exercised its right to respond to deter such more cross-border terrorism... Our actions were measured and non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. They focused on dismantling terrorists' infrastructure," he said.



Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said that a total of nine terror sites were targeted and successfully destroyed. She asserted that the locations were selected so that there was no damage to civilians and their infrastructures.



"Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and successfully destroyed... The locations were so selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives, she said.



Col Sofiya Qureshi showed some videos of the strikes destroying terror camps.



The Indian Armed Forces conducted 'Operation Sindoor' early Wednesday.



Twenty-six people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack. The government had said that the perpetrators will face severe punishment

Comments

bottom of page