Diwali leaves firecracker sellers happy in Chandigarh

According to the 96 traders there was a sale of around Rs 5 crore this year. Express Archives

The festival of lights left the firecracker sellers in Chandigarh happy as their entire stock got over by 7pm Thursday. Few sellers even said the a few people from Delhi had purchased firecrackers in bulk from them. According to the 96 traders, who were given licences, there was a sale of around Rs 5 crore this year. Chirag Aggarwal, general secretary of Chandigarh cracker sellers association, whose brother in law got a licence, said that they got a good response and even few people from Delhi purchased stock from them. “Three Delhi-based people, who had come here for some work, visited my brother-in-law’s stall and purchased stock worth Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, a day before Diwali,” said Aggarwal.

Devinder Gupta, president of Chandigarh crackers sellers association, however, said that if only 20 per cent of licence holders were allowed to sell firecrackers, then it is obvious that the sale would have been good. “People have their fixed budget. If somebody had spend Rs 4,000 on firecrackers last year, he did the same this year as well. It was just that only limited people sold the stock,”said Gupta, whose brother got the licence to sell firecrackers. According to sources, those who didn’t get licences, asked those who got licences to sell their stock and accordingly share the profit.