GST effect: Navarathri festivities lose sheen

Gayathri N buys new dolls for Navarathri every year in the range of ₹2000 from Mylapore, Chennai. But this year she had to cut down on the number of dolls, due to increase in cost.

“Prices have increased by ₹200 to ₹500 for dolls,” she says. “With my budget of ₹2000, I will have to stick with smaller sized dolls,” she added.

Colourful dolls made of clay and plaster of paris decorate the streets near Mylapore Tank, which usually sees people in droves. But the usual buzz is missing this year, say golu doll traders.

R Kannan, who has been selling dolls in Mylapore for the past 35 years, usually has a footfall of 1000 people a few days before the start of Navarathri till it ends. He stocks up ₹1 lakh worth of dolls. But so far his shop barely saw 200 customers. “Prices have increased under new tax regime. But people want it at the same price or even less or they do not want at all,” he laments.

After the implementation of GST cost for paints and other material cost have gone up resulting in price rise of 10-15 per cent for dolls. For instance, a bigger set of Lord Rama Pattabhisekam was priced at ₹2500 last year but this year it is ₹3000. “When customers come in they want the set for ₹1500,” says S Ramesh, another trader in Mylapore.

While some like Ramesh are unwilling to sell it for lower margin, others like Kannan give away the dolls for the bargain price. “I sell it for less price so I do not get any margin. Though I’m running on loss I cannot afford not sell anything at all,” Kannan says.

V Gopalakrishnan, who has been running a handicrafts store in Mylapore for the past 15 years, agrees that the increase in price did have an impact on doll sales in Chennai. For instance if someone comes with a budget of ₹10,000, even with discounts from the shop they end up paying ₹200 or ₹300 more than last year. So they stick to budget and buy what they can avail within their budget range, he added.

Rain too is playing a spoilsport for the traders, who display the dolls on the streets. PS Balasubramanium, who comes to Chennai from Tiruchi every year, said that when it rains continuously, dolls will be damaged and there will be no takers. “I cannot take all dolls back to Tiruchi. So I will end up selling the dolls for half the price,” he added.

Gifting has taken a beating as well this year. The GST for gift articles range from 12 per cent to 28 per cent. AS Muthuvel, owner of Vijaya Stores, said Navarathri is the time the shop sees booming business. “On a normal day if 30 people drop in, during navarathri the average footfall is 250,” he said. Though the average footfall has not changed, the difference is in volume of purchase. “People do not want to spend more money. So they buy lesser items than that they did last year,” he added.

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