Modi’s campaign increases sweepstakes in broom trade

With coming up of new technological innovations in this household item industry, wholesale traders, who were speculating extinction of jhadoo trade, have sprung in action and now talking about untapped potential of this unorganised industry.

The impact of the Clean India campaign is such that suppliers are thinking of launching their own brand to be a key player in the years to come. Till a few days ago, Manish Gupta was just a supplier of raw materials from Siliguri, but after the launch of the cleanliness drive, he launched his own brand of brooms. 

The major broom raw material supplying states are West Bengal, Mizoram, Manipur, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 

With the visible increase in sale of brooms following the launch of the Clean India drive, the wholesale traders at Khari Baoli are projecting about 100 per cent increase in the business, if the project is implemented all across the country. Talking to Millennium Post, wholesale trader Govind Ram Goyal said, ‘We are excited after the launch of the campaign as it will boost the sale of brooms. The consumption of brooms is directly proportional to the sale of this household item, which will definitely change the course of business and the demand may go up to even 200 per cent in near future.’

Goyal, whose broom brands are Deepak and Kamal, said, ‘The supply of brooms during Clean India campaign was about 2,500 per day in comparison to normal day supply of about 2,000 brooms in a day. There are several other wholesalers in this market, so you can calculate the trade volume.’ 

Another wholesale trader Vinay Kumar Gupta, who owns Hari Ram Gulab Rai and Sons, said, ‘Being a major supplier of NCR, Haryana and Rajasthan, I also believe that the demand of brooms will go up depending upon the continual execution of Clean India project.’ Gupta, who owns Suraj brand broom, added that cleanliness is not a new concept. It’s a routine work in every household as well as offices. But since the project has been launched by the prime minister of the country, the use of brooms has come into vogue. 

Harsh Thukral, who is carrying forward the business, started by his forefathers in 1954, said, ‘With the change in lifestyle, the method of cleaning has also changed a lot. We have seen the time when broom was the only tool to clean the floors, but now there are different types of automated cleaning machine. The concept launched by Modi is very good. It will help in reviving the old-fashioned broom trade.’ The traders are predicting ‘acche din’ for ‘jhadoos’ after Diwali.

Even industry bodies are very positive about the campaign. Confederation of All India Traders’ general secretary Praveen Khandelwal told Millennium Post that the market is likely to see a rise of 30 per cent in the sale of brooms. 

He, however, said that the chances of big corporate houses joining broom trade were bleak due to lesser profit margin.

On reports about rise in the prices of brooms in retail market, wholesalers denied having any such information. ‘There is no price rise from our end, if retailers are charging extra amount, they are doing it on their own to encash the opportunity,’ was the general refrain.