Muted festive season sales fail to light up Diwali for many shopkeepers

Hit hard by inflation, low-income groups have been cautious about spending this festive season

Though Delhi has been witnessing mammoth traffic snarls in the run-up to Diwali, and many believe that they are due to people going all out to shop for the festive season, shopkeepers say that the crowds have not translated into sizeable footfalls this year. They feel that the loss in sales is due to inflation and the post-Covid economic scenario.

Sixty-year-old Mohammad Sijad, a shop owner in Meena Bazaar, opposite the Jama Masjid in Delhi, says that the rising cost of consumables and other goods has made it difficult for people to splurge during the festival season. “Sales have been