'Uttarayan' to add Rs 150 crore to Gujarat kite makers' kitty

Kite enthusiasts in the state will spend between Rs 125-150 crore on kites and thread alone this Uttarayan.

While most people in the state will spend the entire two days of January 14 and 15 on rooftops flying kites, the kite and thread market in the state has already picked up in all major cities and smaller towns of Gujarat.

Colourful kites are seen displayed at several locations in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, besides other cities and towns. While the Raipur and Jamalpur wholesale kite and thread markets in Ahmedabad are already doing brisk business, hundreds of small kite and coloured thread, known as manja makers, have set up shops along roadsides.

In the main Jamalpur and Raipur kite markets, a set of 20 kites costs anywhere between Rs 20 and Rs 70, depending on the size and quality of the kites. The selling will peak on the night of January 13, when the market will remain open until dawn the next day.

"The rush has begun, but as it occurs every year, more than 60 per cent of the season's selling takes place in the last two or three days," said a kite dealer in the Jamalpur market.

In Surat, the Rander area of the city has been traditionally known for making kites with hundreds of families engaged in this business. However, kite stalls have come up in all areas of the city, while manja makers are primarily located at Bhagal, Kot Safil Road, Dabgarwaad and the surrounding areas.

The main kite market in Rajkot is the Sarar Bazaar, that has begun to witness heavy rush for the past week and will only intensify further.

The road from Raopura to Mandvi is the hub for the kite market in Vadodara. Like in other cities and towns, the thread market is spread all across the city in these two centres as well.

Coinciding with the festival is the 'Vishwa Gujarati Parivar Mahotsav' being organised by the government of Gujarat and sponsored by the Essar Group, which has pumped in Rs 7 crore to finance the mega event.

The government has stated that it intends to make this an annual event. According to one estimate, Uttarayan puts up a business of at least Rs 400 crore, with the sale of sweetmeats picking up in a big way.

Traders say that these figures are just estimates in a completely unorganized but a high voltage once-in-a-year market.