October 16: During this year’s Tihar, which is also known as the festival of lights, the business of decorative lights is speculated to decline by 50 percent.

According to the Federation of Electrical Entrepreneurs of Nepal, the business of decorative lights may slump due to the strict policy adopted by the government for the import of such items and the impact of global recession.

According to the federation, every year during the Tihar and Chhath festivals, the business of decorative lights amounts to almost Rs 40 million. However, this year, this amount may drop to Rs 20 million.

During Tihar and Chhath, the business of other kinds of lights also increases by 10 to 15 percent compared to normal times.

Entrepreneurs say that the trend of changing old and worn out lights and moving to new houses also increase during this festival, so the business also increases during this time.

The federation complains that, traders are not able to import goods after Nepal Rastra Bank imposed a 100 percent cash margin to open LC for the import of electronic goods.

Sudarshan Paudel, president of the federation, said that even small quantities of ordered goods could not enter Nepal due to the closure of both the northern border ckeckpoints (Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi).

According to the data of the Department of Customs, in the first two months of the current fiscal year, electrical equipment worth Rs 49.50 million entered Nepal, but the amount of bulbs and lights intended for the festivals is yet to be ascertained.

 In Nepal, 55 percent of decorative lights are imported from China and 15 percent from India. As soon as the festival of Dashain is over, people light up their homes, offices, commercial complexes and other places with different colored lights. So, the demand for such lights is high during Tihar.

The federation added that the price of such items also increased this year due to the increase in the value of the US dollar. Recently, the price of the dollar has been on a continuous rise and reached around Rs 132, making the price of electronic materials increase by 20 percent.

“On the one hand, due to fluctuations in the economy, the purchasing power of consumers has decreased, while on the other hand, the price of goods in the market has increased. Due to this, the presence of consumers in the market during Tihar this year is not encouraging. Therefore, the demand for such items seems to decrease automatically,” Paudel said.