The stock market crash coupled with the ongoing economic meltdown has fizzed out the Diwali excitement in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Majority of business houses have slashed their corporate gift budgets by at least 25%.
The impact of liquidity crunch is seen the most on real estate sector with banking organisations reluctant to lend money for projects. In fact, Punjab National Bank chairman and managing Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty said banks had enough liquidity but not lending to real estate projects was a deliberate decision. Most of businessmen are now offering discounts and even foreign trips to woo buyers. The CMD was here for the state-level bankers committee meet.
Atul V Sood, a company secretary told FE that owing to low Budget, corporate houses were choosing gift items imported from China as they are cheap. ?For many corporates this Diwali would be a Black Diwali,? he opined.
Surinder Singh of Surindera Electronics, a distributor of Samsung products in Chandigarh told said, ?Sales this Diwali were down by 25 to 30% as few corporate houses had come to buy white goods like refrigerators, washing machines, digital cameras, LCD televisions and other electronic gadgets?.
However, Parliamentary elections being round the corner, political parties have made up for the loss to some extent. Corporate gifting on Diwali helps cultivate long lasting relationship with business associates and employees, says Assocham secretary general DS Rawat. Presented with a smile, a gift strongly conveys you care for your employees and and want the best for them, he added. On the other hand, when companies present a corporate Diwali gift to their business partners and associates it shows the company is grateful on receiving a chance to serve.