Price rise may defuse Diwali spirit in Ahmedabad

Diwali is next week but the shops selling crackers are not yet seeing buyers. Those dealing in crackers say the whopping rise of about 40%-50% in the prices of crackers in comparison to last year is putting customers off.

A visit to cracker stalls at Dilli Darwaza and other places in the city tells one how the owners are anxiously waiting for people to make purchases for the 'Festival of Lights'. The colourful crackers in various shapes and sizes are yet to be picked up by customers.

Said Ashish Khajanchi, a wholesaler: "Rise in prices of raw materials like paper and chemicals has led to the rise in the prices of crackers. Also, due to diesel price hike, the transport cost of crackers has gone up." According to him, this is the highest increase in the prices of crackers in last few years.

So will the price rise mean that the quantity of crackers to be sold will come down this year? A retailer at Dilli Darwaza, Roop Lal, said: "We are not sure whether this year there will be good business or not. It all depends on the last three days when the sales actually pick up. Now, there are customers but the response is not as good as it was last year during this period. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that the sales pick up in the last three days."

Another retailer, Vyasuddin Ghulam, said, "I am in the business of crackers for long and I have never seen such poor response from customers. I believe this year we are witnessing the worst market and demand for crackers."

When asked about whether people will raise their cracker-buying budget in view of high prices, retailers say it can be known only in the last three days. "Those who normally spend anywhere between Rs2,000 and Rs2,500 are upper class people high spending capacity. However, whether this class will spend this much or not this year will be known during the last three days,'' said a shop owner.