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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.

NCP (SP) banks on Awhad for Muslim outreach

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

Jitendra Awhad has won Mumbra, a seat with a majority Muslim population, since 2009 but is now facing a challenge from his own former colleague


Awhad

Mumbai: When Sharad Pawar joined a mega procession to accompany Jitendra Awhad for filing his nomination form, it was a signal to the cadre and the electorate---that Awhad had the full support and backing of the party and of Pawar, in particular. It was also a repeat of 2019 when the president of the undivided NCP was present alongside Awhad as he filed his nomination. This year, the symbolism of the gesture is even more. Especially since Awhad’s constituency Mumbra-Kalwa falls in Thane, the home district of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. And opposing Awhad is his former party colleague Najeeb Mulla who represents Ajit Pawar’s NCP.


It’s no secret that Awhad is favoured by his party leadership for his fiery ways and his success is winning the Mumbra constituency for his party since 2009. Once a student activist who had famously protested against a hike in college tuition fees in 1982, the MLA from Mumbra is fiesty, outspoken and blunt. He doesn’t shy away from controversies and enjoys a close rapport and unrestricted access to his party boss, Pawar. He’s among those who stayed loyal even when the party split in 2023.


While the party says that Pawar’s presence at the large procession is a way of acknowledging and appreciating the “nishthavant” leaders of the party, Awhad also represents the NCP (SP)’s outreach and support to the Muslim community, having represented Mumbra-Kalwa three times in the state assembly. The constituency has been held by the NCP since 2009 and is believed to have a 75 per cent Muslim population and political analysts say that they key to winning this seat is to have a leader who enjoys the Muslim and the Marathi vote. Which Awhad has proved for over 15 years now.


In 2014, Awhad polled more than 86000 votes which was greater than the collective tally of all 16 of his opponents. A few months before the elections, Pawar had spent an entire day in that constituency, meeting and energising the party cadre and inaugurating infrastructure development and beautification projects that were conceptualised by Awhad.


Apart from development works, Awhad is known for his blunt statements and vociferous support to the local community. Just before the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he courted controversy by stating that Lord Ram ate beef.


This year, he challenged the Ghaziabad police to prove their claims that more than 400 children were being forcibly converted to Islam through gaming apps and the mastermind of the racket was allegedly in Mumbra. “Jitendra Awhad is a tireless voice for protecting the secular fabric of our state and our nation. When an elderly Muslim man was beaten up on a train to Mumbai on suspicions of carrying beef, it was his intervention that ensured the Railway Police cancelled the bail of the accused and charged them under mob lynching sections,” says Anish Gawande, national spokesperson of the NCP (SP).


It is said that until now, Shinde and Awhad had a tacit understanding for this constituency which falls under Shrikant Shinde’s Lok Sabha seat. But the Shinde-led Mahayuti is now on a mission to unseat Awhad and capture control of this constituency. Shinde is believed to have deputed several corporators and partymen to fan the area and drum up support. The contest also may not be a cakewalk with a former corporator and a Muslim leader fighting against Awhad.

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