A traditional pongal celebration is not complete without Tamils offering pongal made in new clay pot, sugarcane, wearing sarees and dhotis to the Sun god. You will often notice sugarcane in bundles and painted clay pots decorating the streets few days before the harvest festival pongal.

But this year, the usual festive mood is missing. With people cautious about spending money, sales have taken a hit, say merchants. The Centre’s decision to ban high value notes ₹500 and ₹1,000 from circulation has caused a severe cash crunch. This has hit businesses as consumer spending have reduced.

Textiles industry

M Arokia Raja, Advertising Manager of textile manufacturer and retailer Pothys, said that after demonetisation, sales volume has gone down and is yet to pick up. “Usually during pongal average sales per person is ₹10,000, but it has come down to ₹4,000 this year in Chennai. It is as low as ₹2,000 in smaller towns in the State,” Raja said.

Varun Janardanan of Sri Kumaran stores, another textile manufacturer, shares similar sentiment. Janardanan said, “There has been 5-8 per cent drop in footfall. Our entire supply chain is cash-based. Suppliers are having a hard time getting raw materials like silk as there is not enough cash flow. We are unable to pay labourers on time. This has caused delay in the launch of festive collection this season,” he added.

Sugarcane

Decline in prices and less demand have dampened the spirit of wholesalers and farmers who sell sugarcane. M Nagalakshmi, one of the sugarcane traders, says though she was able procure sugarcane at a lesser price compared to last year, sales has not taken off. She was able to get bundle of 15 sugarcanes between ₹200 and ₹300, but had to shell out ₹1,000 for transportation. “Even after spending so much, I’m not seeing much crowd and sales have hit rock bottom,” she said.

Arasu Basker, Proprietor, Mayan Arts and Potteries, said, “Most people who come to shop give ₹2,000 notes for buying items worth ₹200. Since we do not have swipe machines, we are turning many customers away,” Baskar added.

For Om Prakash, Propreitor, SRP Exports usually makes and sells ₹30,000 worth of clay wares per month during Pongal season. But this year he was able to make only clay wares worth ₹10,000Prakash said.

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