Bengal's Durga Puja economy saw uneven gains this year, with large puja organisers, malls, organised retailers and e-commerce platforms reporting strong business, while smaller puja committees, traditional market traders and hawkers struggled to compete.
Government data showed that 13,000 more pujas were organised this year than last, but the divide between big-budget celebrations and smaller community pujas remained stark.
Large and traditionally popular puja organisers reported fully booked outdoor advertising slots, with rates rising by at least 20 per cent amid the growing use of LED displays. Smaller committees, however, faced weaker demand, with around 30 per cent of their outdoor advertising slots remaining vacant, according to Kajol Sarkar, an office-bearer of the Forum for Durgotsab, which represents over 550 community puja committees in Kolkata, Howrah and their suburbs.
Sarkar said advertisers were concentrating on specific routes rather than spreading their spending across locations.
The growing use of LED digital hoardings further widened the gap between large and small pujas, with prominent celebrations attracting higher advertising rates while smaller committees struggled to secure advertisers.
"Advertisement rates at big-budget pujas went up by at least 20 per cent due to LED displays, but brands rationalised spends by going slow on smaller roads and puja committees," said Amit Mitra, executive vice-president of Pioneer Publicity Corporation.
Park Street, Camac Street and Theatre Road emerged as key advertising hubs, partly because these areas fall within chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's Bhabanipur constituency.
Organised retail, meanwhile, reported strong festive sales. Siddharth Pansari, managing director of Primarc Projects Private Limited, said the company's mall recorded around 17 per cent growth in footfall over the 45-day pre-Puja period compared with last year.
"We are seeing strong demand across women's wear, kidswear, footwear, men's casual wear and beauty products, alongside high-value purchases at leading retail outlets," he said.
Footfall rose from nearly five lakh in September to around seven lakh in October, while festive business was expected to touch about Rs 38 crore during the month, Pansari said.
Department store chains such as Style Bazaar, Bazaar Kolkata, Fashion Bazaar and Zudio also drew heavy crowds across Kolkata and its surrounding areas, catering to middle- and mass-market consumers.
However, the surge in online festive sales and deep discounts offered by e-commerce platforms raised concerns among traditional retailers. The Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA) on Monday said the widening price gap between online and offline sellers was hurting conventional retail businesses.
E-commerce companies have reportedly clocked around Rs 24,000 crore in sales in the first two days of the festive season.
CWBTA president Sushil Poddar said the concern was not the growth of e-commerce itself, but the significant price difference between online and offline sellers.
"Traditional retailers are losing business because they simply cannot match prices offered by large online platforms," he said.
Asit Kumar Saha, a representative of the Hawkers Joint Action Committee, said online shopping, department stores and malls had hurt small hawkers in traditional markets, including MG Road, Burrabazar, Hatibagan, Shyambazar, Jadavpur and, to some extent, Gariahat.
"The threat of eviction by Kolkata Municipal Corporation engineers after the Puja has added to their anxiety. Customers are bargaining more, thinning margins or even forcing sales at a loss," he said.
Economist Saibal Kar, a professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, said Puja shopping in Kolkata had traditionally catered to two broad groups: relatively affluent consumers who shopped at malls and major brands, and the larger number of shoppers who bought garments from stores in areas such as Rashbehari, Burrabazar and Hatibagan.
"There is a push by the government that is not favourable to small retailers or hawkers. The government in Bengal is looking for big capital and is trying to protect its interests. There is a concerted effort to sideline small traders and hawkers by the new dispensation," Kar said.
He said large businesses were also among the advertisers at Puja celebrations.
"Kolkata was a place for everyone. The changes show we are moving along the rest of India," he said.
Pointing out that the MSME sector provides employment to around 600 million people, Kar said the government should be proactive in protecting small businesses, which are less prone to international shocks.