New Delhi witnesses bumper sale of flowers on Valentine's Day

Considered as Asia's largest flower market, Delhi witnessed record sale of flowers worth around Rs2 crore today on Valentine's day, the festival of love.

"Our sale of flowers have jumped by nearly 30-40% this year as compared to last year," Sandeep Kumar Srivastava, an official of Ferns N Petals', one of the largets retail chain of flowers in the national capital, told Press Trust of India.

"This year our sale might touch about Rs40-50 lakh," he added.

Another florist, Satish Kumar Singh said "We had a very good business since yesterday. Flowers worth Rs4.5 to 5 lakh have been sold during the period."

According to the Delhi based florists, the record jump in the sale of flowers this Valentine is due to boost in supply of flowers in the markets.

"Early flowering of the buds due to the rise in temperatures in past 7-10 days resulted in bumper production of flowers," Birju Bhai Pradhan, a flower wholeseller, said.

In addition to Rose, Red Carnations saw brisk sales, Pradhan added.

Delhi receives flowers mainly from Kullu and Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Some quantity also comes from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Pradhan said.

The national capital has over 5000 flower shops.