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Ahmedabad: Business not picking up ahead of festive season, say traders

The run-up to the upcoming festive season has failed to enthuse the local traders. If the current state of affairs is any indication, the season will be among the worst in at least past few years. Businessmen in textile and jewellery sectors say that people usually start coming from September. But, this year the crowd have been swelling since last week.

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The run-up to the upcoming festive season has failed to enthuse the local traders. If the current state of affairs is any indication, the season will be among the worst in at least past few years. Businessmen in textile and jewellery sectors say that people usually start coming from September. But, this year the crowd have been swelling since last week.

The festive season begins after Shraddha Paksha, during Navratri and continues till the marriage season post Diwali.

"This appears to be one of the worst seasons. Generally, customers pour in as August ends. In September there were only isolated footfalls. It is just now that some activity is being noticed. But still business is just a fraction of what it used to be till two years ago," said Mukesh Sheth, president of Ratanpole Mahajan, a cluster of 330 shops selling textile products in old city.

Sheth feels that the festive season is no longer the same after demonetisation and introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST). "Every passing year after demonetisation and GST has been worse than the previous one. Usually, a shopkeeper buys new stocks for the season, but this year even the old stock is unsold," said Sheth, adding that this applies to all the shops in the area as well as to other trades in Ahmedabad and other cities as well.

The mood in CG Road, one of the shopping hubs in western Ahmedabad is also the same. Bharat Adani, the owner of Adani Selection, a cloth trader, told DNA that footfalls in September were only about 40% of what it used to be in previous years, that has now increased to about 60%.

"There are indications of revival but people are uncertain about their income. It seems money has been blocked somewhere," said Adani, who is also the president of Western Zone of Amdavad Vepari Mahajan, the apex body of trade bodies in the city.

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