A feat which seemed unimaginable in the past, courtesy the humongous share of Chinese goods in the Indian market, 2020, by all means, is set to change the trend as the tide has finally turned for good. For the first time in decades, India is heading towards a China free Diwali. According to a report in Financial Express, Chinese companies exporting goods to India may suffer Rs 40,000 crore business loss this Diwali season as the Indian traders’ community gears up to boycott the sale of goods from China.
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the apex body of the traders’ union which represents 4,000 traders’ bodies and more than 7 crore traders across the country has sounded optimistic that a searing blow will be imparted to the Chinese interests.
Out of around Rs 70,000 crore business done in India every year during the Diwali season by traders, goods worth around Rs 40,000 crore were imported from China in the past years. The body is predicting that Galwan valley clash and the sustained Boycott Chinese movement has resulted in sentiment where people are actively not buying Chinese products.
“Because of the brutal massacre by China killing 20 Indian soldiers mercilessly, there is great anger and resentment towards China in the people of the country which has prompted the people not to buy Chinese goods,” said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, CAIT.
Reported by TFI, in June, when the India-China border clash heightened due to continued Chinese aggression, CAIT had decided to boycott Chinese goods worth more than 1 lakh crore rupees– 13 billion dollars approximately– by December 2021.
CAIT had prepared a list of 3,000 items which included toys, gifts, FMCG products, confectionery products, clothes and watches, as superior indigenously manufactured alternatives of these items were available.
And it looks like the traders are preparing themselves with sufficient stocks of goods. According to B. C. Bhartia, President, CAIT, mobile, electronics, electrical goods, toys, home furnishings, kitchen accessories, gift items, watches, readymade garments, footwear, cosmetics, beauty products, furniture, FMCG products, consumer durables, stationery, Diwali puja and decorative articles for the home, shop, and offices, etc. are likely to be sold in large quantities.
During his monthly Mann Ki Baat program yesterday, PM Narendra Modi had once again called for consumers to be ‘Vocal for Local’ during the festive season and the apex body has taken a cue from his advice.
The body has also urged small scale industries along with local artisans, and craftsmen through its state-level chapters to prepare goods related to Diwali. These sellers would be encouraged to sell their goods in the markets through trade organizations spread across India.
In the last few months, CAIT has become the leader of the boycott China movement by ensuring that not a single Chinese product is imported during festivals. The two big festivals before Diwali- Raksha Bandhan and Ganesh Chaturthi saw neither Chinese Rakhis nor Ganesh idols imported from China.
Read: Boycott China is a huge success! How one trade body in India has brought China on its knees
Slowly and steadily, the Indian manufacturers have successfully replaced Chinese products without many glitches in the market, while the Modi government has actively supported them.
The consumers around the country have started to understand that Chinese goods, though cheaper, have no durable life, and buying them means contributing to China’s economy and ultimately funding the death of Indian braveheart soldiers.