India's top retail trade body, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday (November 15) announced that the Diwali festive season sales jumped to as high as Rs 72,000 crore ($9.7 billion) across major markets in India after despite a complete boycott of Chinese goods.
CAIT added that Diwali sales rose by more than 10% year-on-year, indicating 'good business prospect' for small businesses. CAIT members include retailers who sell everything from electrical items to furniture and footwear.
The traders' body, which represents around 7 crore traders and 40,000 trade associations, pegged Rs 40,000 crore worth of losses suffered by Chinese exporters this Diwali season due to its boycott call.
"As per reports gathered from 20 different cities, which are also considered to be the leading distribution centres of India, it is expected that Diwali festive sales generated a turnover of about Rs 72,000 crores and gave China the expected loss of Rs 40,000 crore," CAIT said in a statement.
"People didn't purchase anything in the last eight months except essentials. Hence people had enough surplus money, and a portion was spent on Diwali festivities," said Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT's secretary-general added.
According to CAIT, the robust sales during Diwali festive season indicate 'good business prospects in the future'. The most purchased products during Diwali festive season were the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, toys, electrical appliances and goods, electronic appliances and white goods, kitchen articles and accessories, gift items, confectionary items, sweets, home furnishing, tapestry, utensils, gold and jewellery, footwear, watches, furniture, fixtures, garments, fashion apparels, cloth and home decoration goods.
CAIT has gathered sales data from 20 'distribution cities' for its surveys, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Bhopal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Noida, Jammu, Ahmadabad, Surat, Kochi, Jaipur, Chandigarh.
Earlier, CAIT had issued a boycott call against the Chinese goods following the tension between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
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