The confectionery and farsan industry in Gujarat has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Confectionery traders estimate that the business has lost about Rs 700 crore in the last six months.
However, to their relief, the Gujarat government on Wednesday overturned its earlier decision not to allow any distribution of prasad during Navratri. Minister of State for Home Affairs Pradipsinh Jadeja said that the SOP for offerings in Navratri has been changed and prasad in packets have now been allowed.
The decision came as a relief for traders who believed that if the government’s ban on Navratri offerings would make the confectionary industry bear a further loss of Rs 700 crore. Moreover, if corporate gift orders are not received during this Diwali, then the state’s confectionery industry could lose up to Rs 1,400 crore.
“Corporate orders for Diwali have also been hit hard”, Kishore Sheth, president of the Gujarat State Sweets-Farsan Chamber of Commerce, said. Supporting the government’s new decision on navratri prasad, a sweetshop owner in Vadodara said, “There are long lines at fast food outlets in these Covid times, but misinformation is being spread that eating Mataji’s prasad will cause corona.”
A Rajkot Dairy Merchant Association member said that there is no reason to believe that corona spreads through offerings. “Millions of people feed on the confectionery industry. Currently, the business is barely 15 to 20 percent. Navratri and Dussehra are important for the business. The confectionery industry has suffered the most in seven months,” he said.