Diwali sales generated a turnover of about ₹72,000 crore throughout the country, as per estimates by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) based on data gathered from 20 cities that are also leading distribution centres.

Cracker sales hit

However, the government’s lack of a firecracker policy (a last-minute firecracker ban was put in place by some States including the NCR), resulted in a loss of ₹10,000 crore of business and hit small enterprises, said a CAIT release on Sunday.

The 20 cities included by CAIT in its survey — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Bhopal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Noida, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur, Chandigarh — are considered ‘distribution cities' by the association.

CAIT also said that its boycott of Chinese goods call had resulted in a loss of trade worth ₹40,000 crore for China. “The robust sales that happened in commercial markets during Diwali festival season indicates good business prospects in future and brought back some smiles on the faces of traders. Diwali sales also indicate that the people of India have beaten both Covid-19 and China in terms of sale-purchase of goods,” the release stated.

Prominent retail verticals like FMCG goods, consumer durables, toys, electrical appliances and goods, electronic appliances & white goods, kitchen articles and accessories, gift items, confectionery, sweets, home furnishing, tapestry, utensils, gold & jewellery, footwear, watches, furniture, fixtures, garments, fashion apparels, cloth, home decoration goods, Diwali pooja goods and handicrafts remained the key goods of sale during the season, the release added.