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.

Retributive Resolve

For far too long, Pakistan has treated terrorism not as a scourge but as a strategic asset. Its top brass dares speak of peace while training war criminals. Its diplomats plead innocence even as blood flows from attacks traceable to Rawalpindi’s barracks. The world knows this, yet has pretended otherwise. India, more than any other victim, has borne the brunt of this hypocrisy. But with the aptly named ‘Operation Sindoor,’ launched in retaliation for the barbarous Pahalgam massacre of April 22, India has served a strong notice to Pakistan and the rest of the world that it will not absorb another atrocity in silence.


India’s answer has been swift, calibrated and devastating. Over 70 terrorists are said to have been eliminated. But ‘Operation Sindoor’ marks something far more consequential: a paradigmatic shift in India’s counter-terrorism posture. Unlike the publicised retribution of the Uri or Balakot strikes, this was deeper and more daring. Pakistani air defences, expecting retaliation but unsure of when or where, were utterly blindsided. The deception was brilliant. From the Parliament attack of 2001 to the Mumbai carnage of 2008, and the suicide bombing in Pulwama in 2019, India has grieved and rebuilt, often alone, often unheard. Over the past decade, more than 350 civilians and 600 security personnel have been killed in cross-border terror attacks. Yet India has shown almost inhuman restraint.


The Pahalgam barbarity was the last straw. In an act of spine-chilling cruelty, 25 Indian civilians and one Nepali tourist were gunned down by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, many in front of their families. That the attack took place in Kashmir, a region slowly emerging from the shadows of insurgency and embracing the fruits of tourism and investment, was no coincidence. It was meant to rupture the peace, sow communal discord and signal that even under a new political architecture, the old enemy lurks. Pakistan, through its proxies, sought to remind India of its vulnerabilities. Instead, it reminded India of its resolve. India’s response, while resolute, was also responsible. It struck with the discipline of a constitutional democracy, not the impulse of vengeance. Every effort was made to minimise civilian casualties during ‘Operation Sindoor’.


India’s strike was not an act of war, but an act of self-respect. It was a fitting reply not just for Pahalgam but for a generation of bloodletting. Pakistan’s era of plausible deniability is over. For India, ‘Operation Sindoor’ is no mere act of retribution but the assertion of our sovereignty and our national dignity which has been repeatedly mocked and tested.


‘Operation Sindoor’ perhaps the end of something tolerated too long. India, for all its power, has always sought peace. But peace cannot be built on the bodies of harmless civilians nor negotiated with patrons of butchers. ‘Operation Sindoor’ is India’s reminder to Pakistan - and to the world - that our strategic patience is not infinite. It is a stern reminder that India is no longer willing to play the part of the stoic sufferer. It will strike, and it will strike hard. Pakistan has long sown the wind. It must now reap the whirlwind.


Comments

bottom of page