Dilli Shopping Festival
INTRODUCTION
Delhi as a city, is extensively known for its marketplaces and the shopping experience that it provides to the customers. Great Old Chandi Chowk, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar are some of the well renowned markets that need no introduction. These old iconic markets carry their own flavour and have long been contributing to Delhi and its economy. These markets have also attracted millions of people from all over India with their shopping experience, providing great opportunities for the tourism, hospitality sector and in turn contributing tremendously to the economy and employment.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the business has been extremely difficult for the sellers in these markets as a large chunk of the buyers of these markets were tourists, both domestic as well as international. It has seriously impacted the livelihood of people employed in these markets, along with the hospitality and tourism industry.
To infuse a new zeal in the market and to reconnect the sellers and the buyers, “Dilli Shopping Festival” was conceptualized by the Dialogue and Development Commission with an objective of boosting the sales of Sellers in these markets and attracting tourists, both domestic and international, further enhancing the growth in the tourism and hospitality industry. It also focuses on building the brand “Delhi : A Shopping Paradise” further augmenting the growth of Delhi. The initiative was included as part of the Rozgaar budget 2022-23 announced by Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Shri Manish Sisodia.
OBJECTIVES
The Government of NCT of Delhi is planning to host the first Dilli Shopping Festival over four weeks from 28 January 2023 - 26 February 2023. It will be the first of its kind “City Wide Shopping Festival” in India with the theme:
- Unparalleled Shopping, Discounts and Prizes
- Unlimited Family Fun and Entertainment
- Unmissable Culinary Experiences
The broad objectives of the Dilli Shopping Festival are:
- Boosting sales:Dilli Shopping Festival shall enhance the sales of local markets of Delhi, giving the much needed boost to the sellers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Increasing Employment:Additional business in the three main driving sectors of the economy of Delhi will lead to many direct and indirect jobs being created in Delhi.
- Encourage Tourism:The unique shopping and entertainment experience will incentivise more tourists in Delhi.
- Enhanced Discoverability:There are several unique markets in Delhi, whose flavour will be further showcased during the shopping festival.
- Build Delhi Brand:It will help us build the brand of Delhi as “Delhi : A Shopping Paradise” enabling us to get the consumer confidence and a tag as the most suitable destination for shopping and travel.
- Reconnect the buyers and sellers:Because of the pandemic, many consumers have not been in physical markets to shop, rather have shifted to the online mode. It will be a good push for them to go back and reconnect with the sellers.
CURRENT STATUS
The festival is being implemented by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC). DDC assisted the DTTDC in organising a stakeholder consultation with over 40 market associations in Delhi on 21 April 2022 to obtain feedback on the overall framework of the Dilli Shopping Festival and to seek their support in making it a success. The meeting was chaired by Hon’ble Deputy CM Shri Manish Sisodia. DDC presented the concept behind Dilli Shopping Festival at this consultation (see under Downloads), which saw active participation from all the major market associations of Delhi.
Based on the feedback received at the stakeholder consultation, the overall framework for Dilli Shopping Festival was finalized and announced by Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi on 6 July 2022. DDC is continuing to engage with DTTDC on various stages of planning and implementation of the Dilli Shopping Festival.
Redevelopment of the city's historic and iconic markets and Delhi Shopping festival will increase the sources of income and will develop the image of Delhi as an international shopping hub. Along with this it will add to the job opportunities in the city. But before designing the framework for both these schemes of the Delhi Government, it is important for us to know from people who are working on the ground and know these markets better than us.
We welcome the move of the government to organize a shopping festival to boost the market sales. The success of the event depends on the involvement of local markets, and meetings of this nature are highly appreciated.
