 "Made-in-India boost: Diwali sales skyrocket to record ₹5.4 trillion")
Diwali sales this year reached a record ₹5.4 trillion in goods, up 25 per cent from last year, excluding an additional ₹65,000 crore from services, according to the trade body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which attributed the rise to the Prime Minister’s call for a “Swadeshi Diwali”. Last year, the Diwali trade figure had stood at ₹4.25 trillion.
A survey by CAIT’s research arm, the CAIT Research & Trade Development Society, found that goods and services tax (GST) rate rationalisation helped boost consumer demand this festival season. The survey, conducted across 60 major distribution hubs (including state capitals and Tier-II and -III cities) found 72 per cent of traders directly linked higher sales volumes to reduced GST rates on daily-use products like footwear, garments, home décor items, and consumer durables.
Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of CAIT, said 87 per cent of consumers preferred Indian-made goods over imported ones, leading to a sharp fall in demand for Chinese products.
“Traders reported a 25 per cent surge in sales of Indian-manufactured goods compared to last year,” Khandelwal said.
In the services segment, packaging, hospitality, cab services, travel, event management, tent and decoration, manpower, and delivery collectively generated an estimated ₹65,000 crore, reflecting the wide ripple effect of the festival economy across multiple sectors.
The report highlighted that consumers expressed greater satisfaction with stable pricing, which encouraged sustained festival spending.
Khandelwal said the non-corporate, non-agriculture sector (comprising over 90 million small businesses and millions of manufacturing units) continues to serve as the main engine of India’s growth.
Diwali trade activity this year created 5 million temporary jobs across logistics, packaging, transport, and retail services. Rural and semi-urban India accounted for about 28 per cent of total trade, indicating deeper economic participation beyond metros.
The report said that the sales momentum was likely to continue through the winter, wedding, and forthcoming festival season starting mid-January.
It recommended simplifying GST compliance and improving credit access for small traders and manufacturers. Other suggestions included developing logistics and warehousing hubs in Tier-II and -III cities, promoting low-MDR digital payments and market digitisation, strengthening traffic, parking, and urban market infrastructure, and continuing the “Swadeshi” promotion through coordinated trade-government initiatives.