Festive spirit adds some colour to Delhi's Ghazipur flower market; but supply remains a problem

SUMMARY

CNBC-TV18's Anshu Sharma, visited Delhi's Ghazipur market to determine how the flower industry is reviving as the festive season approaches.

By Anshu Sharma Oct 29, 2020 9:52:12 PM IST (Updated)

The lockdown hasn't been kind to anyone and the Ghazipur flower mandi in Delhi was no exception. The once vibrant market lost its charm at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the festive season commencing, it seem like its colourful appeal would be back.

Sanjay Sarawagi, Proprietor of Shreyas Bloom told CNBC-TV18: "I [have been] supplying flowers to government departments since the last 20 years. We also supply flowers to the Prime Minister's House, but the orders stopped even before the festival of Holi in March. We also supply to Delhi LG House, Health Ministry and Vigyan Bhawan where a lot of events used to happen. But, due to the lockdown, no one was buying flowers."

Pooja, a worker at the Ghazipur flower market said, "The mandi used to be packed this time of the year, but right now it’s not as crowded. Sales are not happening like previous years, I've been just sitting here since morning."

However, after seeing zero sales over the past few months, the market is now bustling with activity.

After destroying farms amid the lockdown, florists at the market are on the opposite end of the spectrum as they do not have enough flowers to sell.

Lambu, another worker at the market said, "Sales have increased compared to the lockdown period, there was hardly any sales at that time."

Vir Singh, a flower decorator, told CNBC-TV18 that in coming days, prices will increase as flowers are not coming from abroad. "Domestic flower demand is high but farmers have now started growing vegetables. All flowers are now coming from local sources. The flowers that were supposed to come from Kolkata have not arrived. The rains in Hyderabad have also affected supply and this could cause problems in the coming days. Prices of flowers have increased 10 times due to this shortage.

Decorators, hoteliers and local shops used to buy fresh flowers from the mandi, but now artificial flowers being imported from China are impacting local sellers.

Farmers and local businesses are approaching the government to seek a ban on the imported of artificial flowers from China.

"We expect to do good business in the wedding season, but this year the wedding season is short and there is a shortage of flowers. The most demand for flowers comes from weddings, hotels, decorators and flower shops. But prices are high people spend big on weddings," said Teg Singh Pradhan at the flower market.

"Demand will get a push once government offices start ordering flowers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we suffered huge losses, but government's push on 'vocal for local' will increase agricultural income," Pradhan added.