The present power crisis and unscheduled load-shedding may have invited public wrath, but it has also been a blessing in disguise for some. Rajesh is one of them.
Commuting from the neighbouring Davangere district, 27-year-old Rajesh brings a bagful of emergency lights and batteries to sell. Every day, he sells about a dozen lights and batteries and earns a profit of Rs. 200.
“I used to do petty jobs to earn money, but around three months ago I started this business and it's giving me good returns,” he said.
After competition intensified in Davangere, Rajesh decided to shift his business to Chitradurga.
These emergency lamps are sold at between Rs. 80 and Rs. 120 and provide a better alternative to candles, says Kantaraj, who bought four such lamps. Although the lamps do not come with a warranty, he still feels the risk is worth taking.
Electronic equipment shop owners too have made good profit by selling some branded emergency lights.
R. Vishwanath, who owns an electronic shop here, says the demand for emergency lamps has increased drastically. “For the past few months, I have been selling at least three lamps every day. I could barely sell that many in a month before.”
As with Rajesh and Vishwanath, Raghavendra, one of the major UPS sellers here, said that compared with last year, UPS sales have doubled.
Interestingly, Raghavendra observed, the demand for UPS has increased mainly among the middle and lower-middle class people, unlike in the past where UPS was mainly bought by the rich.
With the increasing demand, many local manufacturers too have jumped into the business, which has resulted in reduction in prices.
Another UPS seller, Imtiyaz Khan, said many small business owners were buying the products. He claimed to be selling five to six devices every week, which was earlier just one to two.
