Sales of Holi’s ‘made in China’ products hit

While various big-ticket Holi events have been called off in the city owing to the coronavirus scare, wholesalers, retailers and vendors are the worst-hit.

While various big-ticket Holi events have been called off in the city owing to the coronavirus scare, wholesalers, retailers and vendors are the worst-hit.

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According to figures from wholesalers, there has been a 25% drop in demand of products this year, which they attribute to cancelled events and “consumers unwilling” to purchase products such as water guns, which were brought from China.

While there are water guns made in the country, some of the fancy ones, which are popular among children, are imported from China. The colours are usually made in Gujarat and brought to the city prior to the festival. The water guns are priced between ₹60 and ₹350.

Kiran Patel, of Darshan Enterprise, said on an average the sales during Holi go up to Rs1.5-2 lakhs, but this has seen a 25% drop this year.

“Over the past four to five years, sales during Holi have been really good, but this year, because the government has been issuing advisories asking people to not gather at one place for Holi, sales have fallen. The order for these products are placed way prior, say around November, and the coronavirus issue in China began later, but they are not willing to purchase Chinese products,” said Patel.

However, a wholesaler from APMC market at Vashi, said the market for Holi products has been on a decline for the past four to five years, with this year being the worst in the past few years. He attributed the fall in sales to “rumours around Coronavirus”.

“Earlier, the sale of products would start 15 days prior, then it came down to four-five days. Nowadays, prior to the festival, there aren’t enough buyers. There have been constant issues around the festival every year, and the economic situation of the country has also not been great over the past few years,” said Dalpat Devashi, wholesaler.

Dashrath Singh Rathod, street vendor for water guns, observed that it was children who were urging their parents to not purchase Chinese products. Holi will be celebrated on Monday and Tuesday.