Ganesh Chaturthi 2022: Maharashtra witnesses 53% jump in demand for festival-related services

Mumbaikars are preparing for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in full swing with the withdrawal of COVID-19 restrictions. Demand for festival-related services saw an on-year jump of 53 per cent with Mumbai, Pune and Nashik witnessing maximum searches for pandits on hire, according to the Just Dial Consumer report. 

The report noted, “The last two years saw muted celebrations due to severe restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 lockdown. But now the withdrawal of all restrictions has come as a big boost for all service providers for festivals and the gig economy at large.”

Besides these cities, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Amravati and Nanded also logged higher searches for pandits. Demand for pandits was the most searched on Just Dial and contributed almost 37 per cent of the searches for festival-related services. 

Apart from pandits, other festival-related services like mandap decorators, idol makers, flower dealers and sweet shops also saw a sharp rise in searches on the platform. Demand for pandits rose by 50 per cent, pandal decorators by 38 per cent, flower dealers by 31 per cent and idol dealers by 17 per cent on-year. 

In case of pandal decorators, highest demand was reported Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. Mumbai only contributed to 50 per cent of the demand and also witnessed a 50 per cnet jump in online searches for sweet shops. India’s maximum city also drove almost 61 per cent of the searches followed by Pune and Nagpur. 

Demand for flower dealers in Mumbai outdid that from other cities. Idol makers generated the highest demand in Mumbai at 70 per cent followed by Pune and Nagpur. Puja item dealers, on the other hand, saw rising demand in Pune followed by Nagpur and Kolhapur.