Sale of Chinese goods is expected to drop by 45% this year. (Representational image/IE File)
Will it be a Make in India Diwali this year? The sale of Chinese goods like lights, gift items, lamps and wall hangings may decline by 40-45 per cent this Diwali as compared to last year as Indians are likely to prefer domestic products like earthen diyas (lamps), an ASSOCHAM survey has found. In a press release, the quick survey by Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India survey said, “Be it decorative items like lights, gift items, lamps and wall hangings or other product, the sale of Chinese products may decline by 40-45% this Diwali as compared to last year which was about 30% as per the market report from various states.”
The survey found that people are preferring Indian products over the Chinese ones this year. Most sought Chinese items during Diwali are fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and Laxmi idols, rangolis and crackers etc.
Releasing the survey report, DS Rawat, secretary general ASSOCHAM, said, “There has been a 40-45% impact on goods like decorative lights which records huge sales during Diwali, whereas a slight impact has also been seen on China-made electronic goods like mobile phones etc. As per the paper, the demand of electronic items like LCDs, mobile phones and others items made in China has also declined by 15-20%.”
During the survey, shopkeepers said most of the customers are demanding Indian lights. “People are not interested in purchasing Chinese products while showing interest in local products including earthen diyas.”
The report said that people are also preferring Indian crackers made in Sivakasi over the Chinese crackers as the quality of the latter is “questionable”. Also, the shopkeepers don’t give any sort of guarantee on Chinese products.
For the survey, ASSOCHAM interacted with wholesalers, retailers, traders in cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Mumbai.
“According to an estimate, the value of Chinese goods sold in 2016 during Diwali was around Rs 6,500 crore. Out of the total, over Rs 4,000 crore was Diwali-related items such as toys, fancy lights, gift items, plastic ware, decorative goods etc,” the release said.
