Almost two years after the Covid-19 pandemic that hit business hard, this Diwali, traders across the nation are expecting a substantial increase in business. With the situation slowly turning to normalcy and people returning to their work, traders, who witnessed massive loss during Diwali festival last year, expect an increase in the purchases and that too for Indian goods.

As Chinese products continue to flood the markets especially during festivities, traders across the nation claim that Chinese goods are largely absent in the markets this time and have been replaced by Indian goods which is a good sign for the economy.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that this year’s Diwali will be a purely “Bhartiya Diwali – Local Diwali” and traders across the country will perform a Diwali pooja with Vedic rituals in their homes and shops and motivate their customers to do the same. CAIT also said that the way consumers have thronged the markets has also proven that e-commerce is not just the only way of shopping.

CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal in a joint statement said that on the basis of a survey conducted by the research body of CAIT, it was estimated that Diwali festival sales will give a huge kick to the business and considering the large footfall being witnessed in the physical markets now along with the absence of Chinese goods, this will contribute further.

The rush of the consumers in the markets is being seen to purchase items like earthen lamps, readymade garments, clothes, gift items, FMCG products, daily necessity items, cosmetics, confectionery, sweets, home decor items, electric strings and decorative bulbs, mehndi, Rangoli items, electric candles, Handloom fabrics, furnishing items etc.

Khandelwal said that apart from Diwali, the traders, on the day of Dhanteras, are also expecting big business. “Due to the covid 19 pandemic, the purchasing power of the people has decreased considerably, but in view of the increasing price of gold and silver, huge investment is expected in the markets this year. It is expected that there will be an increase of 15% to 18% in the sale of gold and silver on Dhanteras as compared to last year,” added Khandelwal.