Festive Season

PV dealer inventory rises to 38-40 days ahead of the festive season, but discounts remain contained as automakers balance stock and demand

FMCG companies are likely to hold prices through the festive season despite a rise in commodity prices, including sugar, and the impact of geopolitical disruptions, as they seek to protect consumer demand and maintain volume growth amid improving consumption. Leading industry executives said companies have already gone for judicious increases of around 2-5 per cent in the June quarter to partly offset higher input costs and are unlikely to raise prices further before the end of the festive season, even as margins remain under pressure. The sector has been facing renewed cost pressures, with sugar prices touching a new high, alongside a sharp increase in costs of key inputs such as edible oils, coffee, cocoa and crude oil derivatives used in packaging, amid geopolitical disruptions and supply concerns in global markets. While most companies have absorbed a significant part of the inflation through cost-control initiatives and portfolio management, they remain focused on protecting ..

India is likely to create 2-2.5 lakh seasonal and gig jobs during July-December period of 2026, with festive hiring expected to grow 15-20 per cent, according to a report by global technology and digital talent solutions provider NLB Services. As the country enters the festive season, businesses across e-commerce, quick commerce, retail, logistics, hospitality, travel and consumer services are preparing for one of the year's most concentrated periods of demand, said the report. "The festive season is becoming a real-time stress test for India's workforce with employers hiring earlier, looking beyond traditional talent hubs and increasingly relying on technology-enabled, flexible and ready-to-deploy talent. "What was once a short-term response to seasonal demand is becoming a strategic opportunity to access new talent pools, assess capabilities at scale and create pathways to longer-term employment. The real impact of festive hiring, therefore, may extend well beyond the season ...

The government on Friday said it has relaxed the stockholding limit for bulk sugar consumers to 30 days from the existing 15 days, as the festive season approaches and demand is expected to pick up

India's overnight ocean and coastal cruise industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20-25 per cent between FY26 and FY31

BSH Home Appliances India targets rapid growth through wider distribution, new product categories and increased local manufacturing

E-commerce giants bank on speed as they expand beyond metros ahead of Big Billion Days, Great Indian Festival sale event.

Nearly 75,000 opportunities are for first-time workers, as the Walmart-owned company expands its delivery network with 900 new hubs

Amazon has opened 20 fulfilment centres, six sort centres and 150 delivery stations, expanding storage capacity by 50 per cent and strengthening its reach beyond metros.

E-commerce marketplace Meesho expects to create over 10 lakh seasonal job opportunities across its seller and logistics ecosystem to meet the surge in demand during the upcoming festive season. The projected employment generation includes approximately 6.5 lakh jobs across its seller network and about 3.75 lakh roles across its logistics operations. "The festive season is an important period for businesses across our ecosystem to scale up and prepare for increased demand. "This year, we expect to enable over 10 lakh seasonal job opportunities... Nearly 1.3 lakh sellers are expected to hire seasonal workers across packaging, manufacturing, production, warehousing and inventory management, as they build inventory, launch new products and expand their festive collections," Meesho said in a statement on Friday. In the logistics sector, Meesho's own logistics platform, Valmo, along with its third-party logistics (3PL) partners, will scale up capacity. The seasonal roles in this segment

D2C startups across food, beverages, fashion and electronics are using quick commerce as a launch and discovery channel, with festive-season demand driving new products and wider assortments

Sugar mills have proposed starting the 2026-27 crushing season 10-15 days early to improve festive supplies

Leading consumer companies, including Hindustan Unilever and Asian Paints, are planning price hikes ahead of the festive season as higher commodity costs and inflationary pressures squeeze margins

India's festive smartphone season may bring fewer discounts as memory shortages and a weaker rupee push prices higher

Domestic gold prices were trading around ₹1,53,200 per 10 grams on Friday, after rising to ₹1,55,065 earlier this week, the highest in a month

Sold out for Christmas brunch, heavy footfall on New Year eve leads to 30% uptick in business for eateries

Based on channel checks, Elara Capital analysts said the QSR universe is seeing soft demand trends in the current quarter, even after recent GST rate cuts.

For Pernod Ricard India, this is a continuation of the festival season and the year-end festivities make for good business

The top three platforms, Blinkit (45 per cent share), Swiggy Instamart (25 per cent share) and Zepto (23 per cent), together have about 90 per cent market share

India's festive baking is evolving from being a nice community ritual to premium indulgence; Craft, nostalgia and personalisation now define the country's Christmas cake culture