City witnesses dip in sale of Chinese goods: Traders

AURANGABAD: The call for boycott of Chinese goods has had a deep impact on the sales with the traders body witnessing 50 to 60% dip this season.
The Aurangabad firecrackers traders association secretary, Ganesh Kharat, said that all its members have opted to import only Indian-made firecrackers this year. "We have urged 160 of our members and general public to shun Chinese products for the economic development of the region and country," he said.
"Around 140 stalls for sale of firecrackers are put up at the Zilla Parishad Ground, in Aurangapura by our members.Each stall invests around two to four lakhs in importing firecrackers during Diwali. Nearly 98% of the stock is procured from Tamil Nadu," he said.
"Though Indian firecrackers are 10-15% costlier than Chinese goods, they are far superior in quality. Hence, we urge customers to opt for indigenous products," he said.
Meanwhile, the Aurangabad Jilla Vyapari Mahasang's (AJVM) former president Ajay Shah said, "Chinese products have been eating into the local markets for years, but opposition to Chinese products gained momentum after the neighbouring country blocked the Brahmaputra tributary and supported Pakistan after the Uri attack."
He said, "The market is expected to witness a dip in sale of Chinese goods especially lights and firecrackers by at least 60 to 70%."
Vendors selling firecrackers and lights claimed that they had personally procured the goods prior to the widespread campaign. "We had to place orders at least two or three months prior to the festive season. If I were to try and buy more stock now, I would have had to pay three times of the regular price," said a firecracker vendor Subhash Lomte. The trader, however, also conceded that the amount of Chinese crackers available in the market was less compared to previous years.
The main reason for the dip in sales is due to the widespread campaign on social media by several activists decided to boycott Chinese products. The decision was taken to express their wrath against China for be-friending Pakistan after the Uri attack in which 17 soldiers of Indian Army were brutally killed by terrorists from Pakistan. A group of 25 citizens including Anant Motale, Shrichand Jaggasi, Swati Kulkarni, Sharad Halkunde, Ramesh Tiwari, Laxminarayan Pahadiya, Nilesh Bansode, Rajendra Taneja, Laxman Sawnani, Prashant Awasarmal, Akash Shinde and Ajit Rana have joined hands to urge people against the use of Chinese products.
"This is an attempt to pay homage to our martyred soldiers aand also boost the Indian economy," said another member Swati Kulkarni. "Indian market is flooded with inferior quality Chinese products that are available at cheap prices. Government should ban the import of Chinese products so that local industry could grow and add to the development of the country," said activist Jaggasi.