People across India shopped for products worth Rs 1.25 trillion this Diwali, breaking a 10-year record, said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Friday. In Delhi alone, the festive sales generated a business of about Rs 25,000 crore.

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The traders' body said that the record festival purchases this year, after a year of mellow Diwali shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was a much-needed breather for retailers who had been facing losses due to pandemic-induced lockdowns.

The sales figures have also sparked hopes of better business prospects among the traders in the near future, it added. In a statement, CAIT said the traders are now preparing for the wedding season, scheduled to start from November 14.

Meanwhile, the traders' body also pointed out that the consumers preferred Indian goods over Chinese items this time. "Like previous year, this year too CAIT gave a call for 'boycott of Chinese goods and China suffered a business loss of about Rs 50,000 crore in terms of stoppage of import of Chinese goods by Indian traders," CAIT stated.

Traditional Diwali items — including earthen lamps, paper mache lamps, candles — recorded a huge sale, benefitting small potters, craftsmen, and handicraft artisans this year. Besides, sweets, dry fruits, footwear, watches, toys, home décor, and fashion clothing were also in high demand. In addition, consumers spent more than Rs 9,000 crore on gold jewellery and silverware and nearly Rs 15,000 crore on packaging materials.

The analysis of CAIT, which represents about 70 million traders, is based on a survey in 20 cities — New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Raipur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Puducherry, Bhopal and Jammu.