Trade activity across retail and wholesale outlets in the national capital recorded a significant decline during the festive weeks, with the Chamber of Trade and Industry placing the combined revenue shortfall at approximately ₹3,000 crore over the opening fortnight of October 2026.
Across more than 700 commercial zones, customer visits fell as demonstrations, blocked thoroughfares, suspended metro services, and restricted perimeters altered conditions on surrounding streets. Purchases of clothing, electronics, jewellery, and gift items typically rise across the Navratri-to-Diwali window, a stretch that also takes in the Ramlila celebrations.
CTI, the trade body representing retail and commercial interests, projected that uninterrupted demonstrations across New Delhi and its central districts could drive combined business losses to approximately ₹10,000 crore by the time Diwali approaches.
According to CTI Chairman Brijesh Goyal, the disruptions that occurred on October 10 erased roughly ₹2,000 crore in commercial activity, with a further ₹1,000 crore in losses attributed to the traffic gridlocks and Central Park closures that persisted from October 13 through October 16.
Of the total losses recorded, roughly ₹1,800 crore traced back to the retail trade sector, where a pullback in consumer spending left high-street outlets and shopping complexes with reduced foot traffic. Traders arriving from outside the state — spanning NCR corridors such as Sonipat, Panipat, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, and Ghaziabad, along with those from Rajasthan — chose not to travel owing to delays and restrictions at border crossings, leaving wholesale and interstate transaction volumes short by an estimated ₹600 crore.
Booking cancellations and a drop in visitor numbers left hotels, restaurants, and leisure operators facing a combined revenue shortfall of ₹300 crore. Breakdowns across supply chains and transit networks were responsible for a financial toll of ₹180 crore. Porters, packaging hands, retail staff, and street hawkers — all drawing day-to-day wages outside the formal economy — faced a combined shortfall put at roughly ₹120 crore.
Sellers at markets and retail corridors spread across Delhi's northern, central, and southern neighbourhoods are contending with interrupted trade as the disruptions continue. Foot traffic from out-of-state traders dropped at several of Old Delhi's established wholesale hubs — among them Sadar Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazaar, Khari Baoli, and Bhagirath Palace.
Inventory that has been accumulating at cloth distributors in Gandhi Nagar, motor parts traders near Kashmere Gate, and electronics retailers at Lajpat Rai Market is affecting the timing of festive-season deliveries. Foot traffic at both Connaught Place and Karol Bagh declined over the weekend, with metro service interruptions and rerouted roads limiting access for shoppers to both areas.
A formal document listing CTI's demands was delivered to both the Union Government and the Delhi administration, urging that political gatherings and public demonstrations be prohibited across Central Delhi, New Delhi, and the Lutyens' Zone for the duration of the Diwali festive period. Permanent protest venues set aside at the city's outer edges — locations such as Burari, Rohini, or Dwarka — formed the centrepiece of the trade body's proposal.
Among the requests CTI put forward were short-term exemptions from commercial electricity and water charges, extended deadlines for GST obligations, and direct financial assistance for traders affected by the disruption. The group also called on police and other law enforcement bodies to keep commercial streets open and allow retail activity to continue, pushing back against any move toward preemptive market closures.
