Not a bright scene for LED bulbs, signage traders

Paharganj-based trader Abhijit Bose deals in a product that lies at the core of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national programme for LED-based lighting.

Business should be booming, but Mr. Bose is dreading a look at the monthly balance sheet.

Mr. Bose of Satyam Techno, which deals in both wholesale and retail LED lights and signages, has seen an 80 per cent drop in customer footfall since demonetisation was announced on November 8.

The resulting cash crunch has made it difficult for Mr. Bose to sell off his existing stock or procure new products.

Logistics such as packaging and transportation all involve cash, said Mr. Bose, adding that he was struggling to even disburse salaries to his employees.

Workers don’t have

bank accounts

“A large chunk of the LED lighting business is dependent on the unorganised sector, which runs on cash transactions. While I am waiting to get cash payments due to me from dealers in other States, those involved in post-manufacture logistics of existing stock are refusing to accept payments in any other form than cash,” he said.

“On the other hand, just two of my 16 employees have bank accounts to which their wages could be disbursed. So, while figuring out how to pay for logistics, I've been helping the boys get their bank accounts opened,” Mr. Bose said.

The 49-year-old businessman said that Point of Sale (POS) machines were not easy to procure from banks due to the sudden spike in demand for them.

Mr. Modi had described LED bulbs as “ Prakash Path [way to light]” while launching a scheme for LED bulb distribution under the ‘domestic efficient lighting programme’ in Delhi in January last year. But things are not looking bright for people like Mr. Bose.

‘Good intention’

While he believed that the intention and the logic behind the Prime Minister’s move was “very good”, Mr. Bose reckoned that the cash crunch had crippled the market to such an extent that recovery was likely to take a very long time.

Mr. Bose said he would count himself lucky if he managed to break even this month, and several more to come. “With the lack of demand, I believe I will only be able to break even this time and will likely continue to do so for the next six months. In the meantime, I am waiting for a POS machine, for which I had applied a week ago,” he said.