New Delhi: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the organisation that represents traders nationwide, announced on August 18 that the festive trade during this year’s Rakhi festival is expected to surpass Rs 12,000 crore. For several years now, only indigenous rakhis have been sold, and this year too, there is no demand or presence of Chinese rakhis in the market, it said.
CAIT’s National General Secretary and Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk, Praveen Khandelwal, highlighted the upward trend in rakhi sales over the past years. He noted that the business during Raksha Bandhan has steadily increased from Rs 3,000 crore in 2018 to an expected Rs 12,000 crore this year, up from Rs 10,000 crore last year.
Khandelwal and CAIT’s National President, BC Bhartia, spoke about the unique offerings this year, with special rakhis being made from famous products of various cities across India. These include khadi rakhis from Nagpur, Sanganeri rakhis from Jaipur, seed rakhis from Pune, bamboo rakhis from tribal regions, tea leaf rakhis from Assam, and jute rakhis from Kolkata. National pride-themed rakhis, such as tricolour rakhis and Bharat Mata rakhis are also seeing high demand, they said.
The festival period in India, beginning with Raksha Bandhan on August 19 and ending on November 15 with Tulsi Vivah, is anticipated to generate over Rs 4 lakh crore in sales, CAIT said.
