Chinese products sales may decline 40-45% this Diwali: Assocham

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) Be it decorative items like lights, gift items, lamps and wall hangings or other product, the sale of Chinese products is likely to decline by 40-45 per cent this Diwali as compared to last year, a survey by Assocham-Social Development Foundation (ASDF) said here on Monday.

"There has been a 40-45 per cent impact on goods like decorative lights which records huge sales during Diwali, whereas a slight impact has also been seen on China-made electronic goods like mobile phones etc. As per the paper, the demand of electronic items like LCDs, mobile phones and others items made in China has also declined by 15-20 per cent," said Assocham Secretary General D.S. Rawat.

The industry chamber said it has interacted with wholesalers, retailers, traders in cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai to estimate the demand for Chinese products across India.

According to an estimate, the value of Chinese goods sold in 2016 during Diwali was around Rs 6,500 crore. Out of the total, over Rs 4,000 crore was Diwali-related items such as toys, fancy lights, gift items, plastic ware and decorative goods among many other items.

The most sought after Chinese items are fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and Laxmi idols, rangolis and crackers. As per findings of the survey, this Diwali, people are preferring Indian products over Chinese goods.

The paper said according to the shopkeepers, most of the customers are demanding Indian lights.

"There was a huge demand for made in China fancy lights in the market but it is also decreasing. Also, the quality of Chinese products is also questionable with no shopkeeper giving any sort of guarantee on Chinese items once sold. Firecrackers made at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu are preferred in comparison to Chinese crackers," stated the report.

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