At Bhagirath Palace in Chandani Chowk in New Delhi, made-in-China LED lights are being sold in most of the electronic shops. (APARAJIT CHAKRABORTY / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Despite the Indian government's call to bring down dependency on Chinese products and goods, Chinese decorative lights continue to dominate one of India’s biggest festivals, Diwali, by outcompeting Indian ones in price, quality and service.

Indian consumers are eager to buy festive lights and LED lights made in China to adorn their homes during the multi-day Diwali celebration which just got underway. The Hindu festival of lights is a five-day event, with this year’s celebrations starting with ‘Dhanteras’ on Nov 10 and the main festival falling on Nov 12.

Decoration with lights is one of the most quintessential parts of the Diwali festival as it symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil

Despite the lack of direct flight services between the two countries and the Indian government’s efforts to reduce dependency on Chinese-made goods, the demand and orders for decorative Chinese lights remains strong in India and importers have been rushing to secure their shipments for Diwali, according to decorative lights importers, sellers, industry insiders and experts.

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Indians use the decorative lights and LED lights to illuminate households, apartments, multi-storied buildings, restaurants, temples, roads, public transport, and even government establishments.

Decoration with lights is one of the most quintessential parts of the Diwali festival as it symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

The Indian market depends heavily on China for decorative lights because of the price factor. Decorative lights made in India or imported from other countries cannot compete with Chinese products in terms of price, said Samir Mehta, president of Mumbai-based Electric Merchants' Association, or EMA.

“Besides price, if you want varieties then there are no other options than Chinese products,” Mehta added.

“Quality and pricing have kept Chinese lights in the forefront and it will dominate the Indian market in coming years,” said Niren Dharia, former president of the EMA.

New Delhi’s Bhagirath Palace, considered one of the largest wholesale electrical and electronics markets in Southeast Asia, has been largely dominated by Chinese decorative lights for the past one month, and it will continue to witness robust sales going into the upcoming Christmas and New Year festivities, shop owners in the market said.

Fancy lights produced in India are available in very few stores in the country. The Chinese lights appear more attractive. In addition, Indian-made products are expensive compared to their Chinese alternatives, said Anup Yadav, a member of the Bhagirath Palace Market Association.

Earlier, people used to ask whether the product is Indian-made or Chinese, but now buyers are only concerned about the price, said Yadav.

A number of Indian manufacturers have converted their festive lights warehouses to store imported Chinese decorative lights or LED lights because of the dearth of demand for Indian-made lights, Yadav said.

A set of light decor made in China is priced anywhere between $3 and $12, depending on the style and function, whereas the same will cost double or triple if it was manufactured in India, said Ashutosh Tripathi, a shop owner in the market.

There are also a number of other factors for the Indian products being relatively overpriced. One of them is high taxes, and then there is also a scarcity of raw materials in the Indian market for production of such goods, said Anuj Sharma, a wholesale supplier of Chinese decorative and LED lights at the Bhagirath Palace market.

Chinese LED lights are routinely gaining popularity in the Indian market, according to China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, or CCCME

A visit to the market by this correspondent showed that Indian-made lights are available in only a few shops, with most of the shops displaying and selling lights imported from China.

Roof ceiling lights, pathway decoration lights tree decoration lights, flower top decoration lights, garden decoration lights, indoor lighting, chandeliers, pendant lights, table lights, wall lamps, multi-color hanging lanterns, lights baskets and solar lights imported from China are dominating this busiest and largest electronic market in New Delhi.

“We do not get many varieties from Indian manufacturers, and China can deliver finest finished products at a cheap rate,” said Hiren Patel, an importer of Chinese LED and decorative lights.  

Chinese LED lights are routinely gaining popularity in the Indian market, according to China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, or CCCME.

According to CCCME data, in the first half of 2022, China exported a total of $710 million worth of LED light-related products to India, a year-on-year increase of 27.3 percent, and marking a 135.3 percent surge compared to the same period in 2020.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that 'Make in India' is the need of the hour, and has appealed to the industry to reduce dependence on imports and boost domestic manufacturing.

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India has a huge trade deficit with China. China's exports to India in the first half of this year totaled $56.53 billion, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China. India's exports to China during the same period totaled $9.49 billion.

China is reaping the benefits of its industrialization strategy which it had adopted in 1978, targeting the global market, during the Deng Xiaoping era, said Biswajit Dhar, former professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Economic Studies and Planning.

Now China has a huge advantage and no other country can compete with the nation because of its scale of economies, Dhar pointed out.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.