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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.

Konkan’s Election Dilemma: Progress or Preservation? 

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Konkan

The Chipi Airport, a gleaming gateway to Sindhudurg district which was inaugurated in 2021, has inspired hopes of an economic transformation in the Konkan region. For decades, locals have migrated to Mumbai and Pune in search of better employment opportunities, but the promise of economic growth, driven by enhanced connectivity, has kindled optimism.


Yet as the region prepares for the Assembly polls on November 20, the airport is but one part of a mosaic of political and economic issues. In every election cycle, voters in this coastal stretch of Maharashtra grapple with a familiar dilemma: the potential benefits of development versus the costs to their cherished natural environment. The potential for new jobs and entrepreneurial ventures in tourism and agriculture offers a tantalizing glimpse of a future in which the Konkan need not rely solely on its distant cities for prosperity.


While Chipi heralds new opportunities, the larger debate on development in the Konkan revolves around more controversial projects, none more divisive than the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL). The proposed mega-refinery at Barsu, projected to bring investment and thousands of jobs to the region, has instead ignited fierce protests.


The ruling Mahayuti coalition led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had largely remained cautious over openly discussing the refinery during the Lok Sabha polls even when both Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had expressed keenness in reviving the Rs. 3.5 lakh crore oil refinery project at Nanar which the opposition Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has strenuously opposed.


The refinery project had earlier been scrapped by then CM Fadnavis (2014-19), following opposition from the BJP’s then ally, the Thackeray’s undivided Shiv Sena. Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) has now positioned itself as the guardian of the environment, calling for sustainable development that aligns with local sentiment.


The Konkan’s environmental credentials are strong, and its history of opposing large industrial projects, such as the Dabhol power plant and the Jaitapur nuclear project, remains fresh in the minds of its people. Anti-refinery protestors argue that their livelihoods, rooted in agriculture and fishing, would be irrevocably harmed by pollution from the refinery, just as previous generations fought to protect the region from industrial encroachment.


The BJP’s strongman in this region is Narayan Rane, the Union Minister for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, who had won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency in the general election in June by trouncing the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s candidate and former MP Vinayak Raut.


Rane has championed industrial development, but even his stance on the refinery remains carefully calibrated to avoid alienating local voters.


Then again, besides big industrial projects, many Konkan residents demand more investment in sectors like agro-processing, fisheries and eco-tourism (for which the region offers ample opportunities) to ensure sustainable, long-term growth.


Konkan’s voters want growth, but they demand that it comes on their terms. In this election, as in many before it, the question remains can Maharashtra’s leaders deliver progress without sacrificing the natural and cultural wealth that makes the Konkan unique?

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