Sale of firecrackers at all-time low in Mumbai, say vendors

Vendors attribute the fall to demonetisation, GST and speculation after the firecracker ban in Delhi

The sale of firecrackers so far this year has seen a drastic drop, say vendors across the city, blaming the poor business on the reforms introduced by the government over the past year.

Vendors attribute the fall to demonetisation, GST and speculation after the firecracker ban in Delhi (HT FILE)

“We have been running this business since 1984, and have not seen such poor sales in the past 30 years. Earlier, people used to come and buy crackers worth Rs30,000 at one go, now they hardly spend Rs5,000,” said Salim Abbas Sayyed, a vendor at Mohammed Ali Road.

Vendors attribute the fall to demonetisation, GST and speculation after the firecracker ban in Delhi. Another vendor Salim Tolkar said while prices of firecrackers went up because of GST, customers don’t have disposable income because of the economic slowdown and checks on black money.

“The prices of all firecrackers have gone up by 5-7%. If people don’t have the money, how will they purchase firecrackers,” Tolkar asked.

Bigger sellers such as Essabhai Fire Works, however, said the demand was slowly coming to normal. “All these days we didn’t have people coming to our shop, but today there’s a rush. People have realized there won’t be a ban on firecrackers in Mumbai,” said Abdullah Ghia, director, Essabhai.

Another vendor, Akhtar Hussein, suggested that instead of a ban on sellers, the government should make it mandatory for manufacturers to introduce crackers that don’t pollute the air much.