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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.

RSS outreach adds to BJP's convincing win

RSS

Mumbai: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) still holds the key to the BJP's electoral success as the outcome of the Maharashtra Assembly polls showed on Saturday.


According to latest figures of counting of votes, the BJP-led Mahayuti could win over 230 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, leaving the opposition Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP) combine with just 50 seats.


Ahead of the elections in Maharashtra, the RSS had launched an extensive outreach programme to shape public opinion in favour of the BJP-led alliance in the state.


The BJP's ideological fountainhead had started the move in coordination with all of its affiliates.


According to sources, small 'tolis' (teams) of 'swayamsevaks', formed under the plan, reached out to people in every nook and cranny of the state.


Each of these teams held small group meetings with five to ten people and also reached out to families through their local network in 'mohallas' in their respective localities carrying the message.


"They did their work," a source said.


These teams shaped public opinion by holding discussions around topics of national interest, Hindutva, good governance, development, public welfare and various local issues concerning the society without explicitly endorsing the BJP, the source added.


Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said that he had sought the Sangh's help to fight "anarchists and vote jihadists" in the assembly polls following the BJP's setback in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.


Hours after polling in Maharashtra ended on Wednesday, he called on RSS chief Mohan Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur.


According to sources, the Sangh workers' 'tolis' had held over 1.25 lakh small group meetings across Haryana in the run up to the state assembly polls.


Bucking anti-incumbency, the BJP secured its best-ever haul of 48 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly pulling off a hat-trick of wins in the state to retain power and halt the Congress' comeback attempt in the elections.


It is widely believed that lack of enthusiasm among the RSS workers was one of the key factors behind the BJP's underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha elections this year.


BJP president JP Nadda's remarks during the parliamentary polls that his party needed the RSS' support in the beginning but over the years it became capable of running itself is understood to be one of the reasons that had demotivated the Sangh workers in various states.

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