Low footfalls worry numaish stall owners

debilitating de-mon

Hyderabad: The demon of demonetisation’s spell on the 77th All India Industrial Exhibition is proving true as sales have dipped by 30 per cent compared to the first four days last year. Merchants from across the country who descend on the city and stay put for 46 days at the exhibition grounds are jittery as the first few days have been lukewarm.

Businessmen who pick up goods in wholesale are not turning up as they pay by cash. The salaried class use cards to swipe but the real business is from businessmen who buy goods in huge quantities, said Anwar a businessman from Azamgarh. The exhibition society is expecting a turnover of Rs 100 crore till February 15 but if one were to go by indications in the first few days, touching that figure may be a wish unfulfilled.

Md Saddiq, managing director, Sky Limit Company which has been setting up a stall since 2002 says, “Major chunk of our goods is picked up by wholesalers but they have not turned up and enquiries are nil. We are hopeful that as days pass it would improve.” Likewise, Majestic Handloom, who are regulars from Rajasthan and have a devoted clientele at the numaish are in for a shock.

Sudhanshu Mandal a salesperson who has been with the handloom house for the last four years says, “The owners are disappointed as business is dull. We have two stalls at the exhibition and have the facilities for people to pay through cards, yet business is not as it was in the previous years.”

The otherwise jam packed exhibition is now a pale shadow of its former self as few visitors trickle in. Aditya Margam of the Exhibition Society said that he was hopeful that the situation would improve as it is still early days. There are also many stalls that are still being set up and the exhibition would warm up in the next week or so he added. In all there would be 2,500 stalls at the exhibition.

By T P Venu