According to Hindu BusinessLine, the Pongal period, an Indian festival of four days celebrated at the half of January, did not reported the usual good results in commercial terms. Generally, in fact, home appliances sales record positive performance during the festival days, but not this year. The most probable explanation of this trend could be the anticipation of lower GST rates and higher prices, that deterred consumers from purchasing household appliances during the Pongal days, as witnessed by states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where sales of televisions, air conditioners and refrigerators declined compared to the last year. Hindu BusinessLine also underlines that changes in energy labelling norms for categories such as air conditioners (for which the season is just starting) has also taken a toll in terms of increased prices. Moreover, the cost of raw materials, such as steel, copper and foam have also escalated, and coupled with the GST impact, has led to a fall in consumer demand for the home-appliances categories.
