Shankar Majumdar of the Apparel Exports and Manufacturing Association in Delhi admitted the diwali-sales has not been as strong as earlier years. According to him, the global recession has hit the sector the manifestation of which can be witnessed during this season.

Some of the retailers felt that this year's diwali sales has been as low as the season itself. They said that they cannot make out yet whether it is a peak season or a low season.

According to the retailers, textiles sales see peak during October-November while, April-September are the depressed months.

Subhash Gupta of Madhuban Raymond Retail Showroom said that there has been hardly any signs of picking up on this grand occasion of diwali.

In Chandni Chowk areas the big garment whole-sellers are yet to get the first feel of diwali. They saidthat the sales have picked up but not in accordance to what was expected of a diwali-sales. With seven days left for diwali the retailers are expecting some turnaround but is not too sure about the volumes they are to make from this ocassion.

MUMBAI: The lanes of the congested wholesale textile market in Mumbai no longer witness the jostling crowd which usually throng there weeks before the Diwali. The business is down with only few gaddis busy with the clients.

"Around this time, we would have been too busy but not this time," says Rameshbhai Gandhi - a wholesaler of sarees and dress materials."The business is down by more than half. We used to have a daily turnover of atleast Rs 10 lakh but this year it is bearly Rs 2 lakh per day" says Natubhai Mehta, a textile processor and dealer.

The textile market in and around Kalbadevi in Mumbai used to be the main market for fabric for entire country.

Now new centres like Surat, Kanpur, Delhi, Coimbatore have emerged and strengthened over the yearsdethroning Mumbai. Now the retailers have wide choice and can bargain a lot.

The traders are also worried about the sagging purchasing power of consumers. Most of the working class makes their annual purchases during Diwali after getting bonus. But this year for many of them, the story is different.

"And whatever little comes by way of bonus will be gobbled up by the rising food prices" says Kantibhai Gandhi, a weaver from Bhiwandi.

"Business is good only in certain counters like millmade shirts and fabric" says Rajesh Patel, a member of Mumbai Textile Merchants' Mahajan committee. Even readymade garment and furnishing segment is not affected that badly and offtake for millmade fabric is good. However, powerloom fabrics are not so much in demand, according to the market sources. Mumbai is fast losing out to Surat in sarees,''lament saree dealers.

Overall, the textile market business is down by half compared to last year. Even with this kind low volume sale, the realisation of sale proceeds are goinghaywire as buyers take their own time to make payments, says Dineshbhai Mehta, a wholesaler.

For the grey cloth, the market is 50 per cent down this year. Generally the grey fabric demand picks up after July to meet the demand for finished fabrics, sarees and readymade garments during Diwali. This year, there was no seasonal demand in July and not even now in October when the Diwali is approaching, says Bharatbhai of Giridharlal Kanji - a cloth commission agent.

The prices too have crashed this year for lack of buyers. For example, 82s PV swiss cotton which was Rs 12 per metre two months ago is down to Rs 9.25 per metre now and texo bosky which was around Rs 15 per metre last year is around half that price at RS 7.75 per metre today.

However, the final comsumers are hardly aware of the crashing prices since they never get to pay half or even 20 per cent less for any fabric or garment. Explains Rajesh Doshi, a textile broker, "Suppose a fabric that was Rs 60 a metre last year could be availed at Rs 40 or50 per metre but the retailers would never bring it back at the reduced rate. Instead they will replace it with the one that would now cost Rs 60 a metre since the retailers know the buying power of their clientale."

Another trick is to announce sale under the pretext of clearing the stocks but never let consumers know of the real fall in the prices, adds Doshi.