Following the Doklam standoff between India and China, Indians are preferring ‘swadeshi’ rakhis over fancy, good quality and low-cost Chinese products. The demand for ‘made in China’ rakhis have been witnessing a major decrease despite ruling the Indian market all these years.
Raksha Bandhan is an annual festival celebrated with huge fervour among Hindus across the world.Markets are seeing a major fall in demand and sale of Chinese products, said traders dealing in rakhis. Earlier, a campaign had been launched on social media calling for a boycott of China-made goods.
Raksha Bandhan round the corner but the market has been dominated by the ‘Made in India’ rakhis. Call it nationalism; the Chinese rakhis have disappeared from the market altogether, which were earlier sold like hot cakes. When our brothers are trying to protect the border against the monster, how can we buy rakhis made there, alleged one of the retailers.
Despite the low margins by selling India-made products, however, vendors were still happy that the money would be utilised within the country and not outside. China is threatening us by using our own money. Why should we make them earn the profit by selling their products?” Shahganj-based rakhi seller Mukesh Lalwani was quoted.
Going by the Indian sentiments, this year, India-based ‘Baahubali’ rakhis are popular among customers than ornamented Chinese products. Till now, the annual business of made in China rakhis in Agra alone had been about Rs 5 crore, but this year the wholesalers did not order the quantities they usually did.
But, it’s not solely the dragon, which is responsible for the decrease in demand and low sales. The new implemented Goods and Services tax added more woes for the traders this year. According to a trader in Bhopal, the sales have gone down 50 to 60 per cent due to GST as well as a boycott of Chinese rakhis. He alleged that due to the GST imposed, the traders have subsequently increased the prices of rakhis, which henceforth, lead to low sales.
Earlier the Finance Ministry issued a clarification stating gold and silver rakhis will now be taxed at 5%. However, the traditional red cotton sacred thread will not attract the GST.