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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.

Remarkable Reinvention

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Few politicians in India have faced the kind of scepticism that Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has encountered. Once an autorickshaw driver, his hardscrabble life earned him no special favours in the power corridors of the Shiv Sena, where he toiled for decades as a foot soldier. Yet, despite the odds, Shinde has managed to reinvent himself, transforming from a regional leader into the chief of India’s richest state - a feat remarkable for its sheer implausibility.

When Shinde orchestrated a political coup in 2022, vertically splitting the Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray and toppling the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray to form an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), political pundits were quick to write him off. He was, and continues to be, labelled as a ‘puppet’ of the BJP.

Political Cassandras assumed he would soon be overshadowed by the towering presence of Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s ambitious former chief minister and that his Shiv Sena would be routed in the Lok Sabha election this year. Yet, for a leader dismissed as an interloper, Shinde not only held his own but, against expectations, his Sena performed creditably in recent political contests, outdoing even the BJP’s strike rate in the results.

From his birth in humble surroundings in Satara, Shinde entered politics through grassroots activism, rising through the ranks of the Shiv Sena in Thane. His journey from the street to the top echelons of power, mentored by firebrand late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, has hinged on his populism and as a figure who embodies the aspirations of the common man.

Despite the onslaught from the opposition MVA and Uddhav Thackeray, who tried to paint him as a traitor to the Shiv Sena’s original ethos soon after his revolt, Shinde has successfully rebranded himself as the protector of Sena’s working-class voter base.

The recent launch of a biography highlighting Shinde’s hard-fought journey, along with the release of ‘Dharmaveer 2,’ a film about his mentor Anand Dighe and now the anticipated release of a stage play on Shinde, is part of this rebranding to strengthen his image as the true heir to the Sena’s Hindutva legacy.

With the Maharashtra Assembly election approaching, these releases strategically promote Shinde as a humble, relentless worker aligned with Bal Thackeray’s original vision - positioning him as a ‘man of the people’ in contrast to privileged Thackeray scion Aaditya Thackeray.

His close ties to Thane’s industrial belt, where he has cultivated a loyal following, have served as a political bulwark against attacks from both the opposition and sections of the BJP eager to see him fail.

Shinde’s story is one of resilience and reinvention. For a man who once ferried passengers in an autorickshaw, he has come far indeed. Yet, as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, his journey has only just begun. Whether he can maintain his grip on power in the volatile years ahead will depend on his ability to evolve - as he has done so often in the past.

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