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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.

When a 20-minute train journey turns into 3-hour ordeal

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

When a 20-minute train journey turns into 3-hour ordeal

Mumbai: The derailment of local train at Kalyan on Friday night turned my 20 minute journey into a three hour ordeal.


I left my office in Thane somewhere around 11 PM. I boarded the Kalyan local at 11.15 PM. Within a few minutes the train moved but stopped after some time. Three or four times the same episode was repeated. Constantly, I was looking at my wrist watch and helplessly chatting with the co-passengers. Since it was the ladies coach which I boarded the women were virtually becoming restless at every given moment.

It was dark outside. The announcement made within the compartment was not audible. We were scared. After sometime once again the train started. It was crawling but slowly silently reached Kalwa station. At this particular juncture again, the train came to a grinding halt for 20 minutes. After sometime, I spoke to my husband and he told me to get down at Mumbra station. Around 12.45 am the train somehow reached Mumbra.


I waited on the platform for half an hour until my husband arrived. During this period the announcements which were made by the railways on the platform were also not at all audible. Due to which we were trying to get some information from our cell phone. Confusion was growing every moment and we were in total darkness about what exactly was happening around, she added further.


Some ladies in the compartment were hovering inside and some preferred to stand near the door. While coming out of the station we saw all the trains were virtually standing in a queue on the track. We came out of the station and hired a cab and managed to reach around 2 AM at home in Dombivli.


The local train services were disrupted on Friday night and the woos of the passengers were on the following the derailment of a coach at Kalyan railway station. The incident occurred around 9 PM on platform number 2, when a coach of a train heading towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) went off the tracks.


The passengers who were traveling through local trains have to face tremendous hardship till Saturday early morning.


According to the Railway administration, the derailment took place at a critical section of the station, known as the 'king point,' where tracks diverge into multiple lines, making the incident more disruptive. Train services on both sides were affected, with movement toward Karjat restored. The mail and express trains which were obstructing the movement of relief trains were diverted via Karjat Lonavala Pune daund and back to Manmad.

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