CAIT aims to dent China's Rs 4,000 cr biz with 'Hindustani Rakhi'

Traders' body CAIT, which has called for the boycott of Chinese products, on Monday said it has resolved for a "Hindustani rakhi" next month and dent China's estimated Rs 4,000 crore of trade during the festival.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) would also hand over more than 5,000 rakhis to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to be further sent to soldiers guarding the country's borders.

The CAIT, which has 40,000 trade associations and seven crore members across India as its members,has resolved for a "purely Hindustani Rakhi festival" on August 3 and dent China's estimated Rs 4,000 crore trade during the festival, it said in a statement.

"This time any rakhi made by China or any rakhi-related product from China will not be used! In order to encourage the brave soldiers who are guarding the borders of the country, the women's wing of the CAIT will give 5,000 rakhis to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the soldiers, the traders' body said.

The CAIT said that according to an estimate a trade of Rs 6,000 crore takes place every year in India on Raksha Bandhan in which China alone contributes about Rs 4,000 crore.

"Not only is finished rakhi imported from China but also rakhi-making products like foam, paper foil, rakhi thread, pearls, drops, decorative items for rakhi are also imported. Due to CAIT's campaign to boycott Chinese goods, no Chinese goods will be used in rakhi this year and we are confident that China is set to lose about Rs 4,000 crores of business," Sushil Kumar Jain, the Delhi-NCR unit convenor of the CAIT, said.

He said the CAIT has sent a message to all its state chapters and other major associations working in all the states that Chinese rakhi or related products should not be sold.

"CAIT has also urged various state chapters to get people working in raw settlements in the cities, self-help groups of women, women working in anganwadis, small artisans and others to make rakhis and sell them in markets which will also be a great help to people of all these classes," Jain said.

At the same time, CAIT has also urged small scale industries to make Rakhis using Indian goods, he added.

The trade body said that its women wing would also give rakhis to soldiers posted at military hospitals in each city of the country.

The women wing of CAIT in every city of the country, will also tie rakhi to police personnel engaged in safety and security of citizens thereby giving a message that every person of the country stands firmly with the Army and the police force of the country, the statement said.