Finally, 80 shops get licence to sell crackers at PWD Grounds
Vijayawada: After overcoming the technical glitches that arose in e-pragati portal, finally the district administration has issued licences to sell firecrackers to traders. The traders have arranged 80 shops in the makeshift sheds by Monday evening to sell firecrackers in Vijayawada. The traders have kept ready wide variety of crackers and offering discounts also with only two days left for the Diwali, to be celebrated on November 7. The traders observed that the crackers business became expensive in Vijayawada city. The traders said that they are spending more than Rs 1 lakh for construction of makeshift shed at the PWD grounds strictly following the safety measures prescribed by the fire department and for payment of rent and different type of taxes.
A crackers trader will spend nearly Rs 20,000 for the construction of makeshift shop, paid Rs 26,250 challan to the government for doing the business, Rs 12,000 rent for installing shop at Swarajya Maidan, Rs 3,200 GST, Rs 1,600 to e-pragati to get licence, Rs 15,000 for other arrangements. Wages to the workers cost between Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000. K Sudheer, a crackers trader at PWD grounds, said each trader spent more than Rs 1 lakh for setting up a temporary shop and for taxes at the PWD grounds. He said doing crackers business during Diwali became a difficult task. He said there was a facility that unsold stocks can be sent back to the manufacturer.
K Raju, another trader, said they have brought all varieties of crackers this season but there was only two days for the sale of stocks. He said most traders received permission for doing business during the last two days only. The state government is sanctioning licence for the sale of crackers under e-pragati portal. The traders can get online permission by submitting the required details. K Purnachandra Rao, supervisor of a fire cracker shop set up Vijayawada Krishna superbazaar, said more than 20 new varieties of crackers arrived this season. He said the prices also come down this year compared to the last year due to decrease in GST on fire crackers.