Winter chills heat up sweater mart

Know Your Market

As Ahmedabad slips into another chilly winter, activity at the 'Tibet na market' hots up.

Hundreds of stalls that sell colourful woollen wears sprout up on the banks of Sabarmati River as people throng the shops to keep away from the winter bite.

The Tibetan Refugee Sweater Bazaar that comes up in the city early October and continues till the end of January every year, does business worth crores of rupees.

A large number of people visit the market to buy the colourful sweaters and woollen wears that they usually carry with them during holiday travels.

Many residents buy sweaters from the market at cheaper rates and send it to the relatives in other parts of the state as well as the country.

Though not a regular market, people keenly await the arrival of the traders with the onset of winter as they sell quality goods at much cheaper rates.

The bazaar offers various products ranging from woollen sweater to gloves in various designs.

The bazaar, located near Tagore Hall in the city, has more than 500 stalls managed by over 300 shopkeepers and is open from 7 am to 11 pm everyday.

"People generally look out for good colour and design and focus less on quality," said Prema Dhundup, president, Tibetan Refugee Sweater Seller Association, Ahmedabad.

The association pays the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Rs 4,000 under various heads on a daily basis.

Its contribution during the entire season of four months is around Rs five lakh. The organisers collect Rs 4,000 from each stall for a season.

"We are forced to pay the anti-social elements also to conduct our business smoothly," said Dhundup. During the season, Tibetans come form various parts of the country to set up stalls in the city and goods are generally purchased from Punjab, Delhi and Nepal.

Each shopkeeper invests around Rs 35,000 to Rs 1 lakh and earns a margin of up to 50 per cent. Most of the sellers come from Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh and they engage in farming and carpet weaving in the remaining months.

The first month of this season was not as good as expected as winter is yet to firm its grip in the city, said a shopkeeper.

He, however, said he expected better sales in the coming months. Good rains this time would result in a chilly winter and more sales this year, Dhundup said.