Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Holi festival this year is expected to generate business worth around Rs 25,000 crore for traders and retailers, up by approximately 25 per cent from last year’s sales, according to traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Around Rs 1,500 crore worth of business is likely to come from the sale of goods in Delhi itself with no sale of Chinese goods unlike earlier when the import of Holi-related goods — primarily, colours, balloons and toys — used to be worth around Rs 10,000 crore annually, CAIT said.
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CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal in a statement said that made in India goods including herbal gulal, water gun, balloons, chandan, dress material etc., which are favourite goods for purchase among customers on Holi, have registered a huge sale. On the other hand, sweets, dry fruits, gift items, textiles, flowers and fruits, toys, furnishing fabric, kirana, FMCG products, consumer durables, pooja material etc., are also having tremendous sales, indicating better days for the trade in the future. “In Delhi alone, more than 3 thousand Holi get-togethers are expected to take place.”
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According to CAIT, traders, retailers across the country had registered around a 30 per cent jump in Holi sales last year from the year-ago period, generating business of around Rs 20,000 crore without any sale of Chinese goods. “After a gap of two years (due to Covid) and witnessing the worst days ever in the business, this year Holi sales proved to be a tremendous boon for which the retail sector of the country was eagerly waiting,” CAIT had said in a statement.
The second wave of the pandemic and restrictions enforced by the central government and state governments had cost traders business loss of around Rs 35,000 crore during Holi in 2021, according to the association last year.