Be it decorative items like gifts, lamps, wall hangings or other products, the sale of Chinese products in India may decline by 40-45% this Diwali as compared to last year, according to a report by ASSOCHAM-Social Development Foundation (ASDF), on Monday.
The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) survey said, there seems to be a decline of about 40-45 per cent in consumption of Chinese products on this Diwali in comparison to last year.
The most sought-after Chinese items include fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and Laxmi idols, rangolis and crackers etc.
As per the findings, this Diwali people are preferring Indian products over Chinese goods.
Less demand There has been a 40-45% impact on goods like decorative lights which records huge sales during Diwali, whereas an impact has also been seen on China-made electronic gadgets like mobile phones etc. As per the paper, the demand for electronic items like LCDs, mobile phones and others items made in China has also declined by 15-20%, said DS Rawat, Secretary-General, ASSOCHAM, while releasing the paper.
Demand for Indian products According to the shopkeepers, most of the customers are demanding Indian lights. People are not interested in purchasing Chinese products while showing interest in local products including earthen diyas (lamps).
There was a huge demand for Made-in-China fancy lights in the market, which is also decreasing. The quality of Chinese products is also “questionable” with no shopkeeper giving any sort of guarantee on Chinese items once sold.
Fire crackers made at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu are preferred in comparison to Chinese crackers, the paper noted.
ASSOCHAM interacted with wholesalers, retailers, traders in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai to estimate the demand for Chinese products across India.
According to an estimate, the value of Chinese goods sold in 2016 during Diwali was around ₹6,500 crore.
Out of the total, over ₹4,000 crore was Diwali-related items such as toys, fancy lights, gift items, plastic ware, decorative goods etc.
This Diwali, the sale of Chinese products may decline by 40-45 per cent as compared to last year, which was about 30% of the total market demand, as per the report from various states.