Durga Puja business in Bengal: big pujas, malls gain as small traders lag

West Bengal's Durga Puja season in October 2026 brought strong business for large puja committees, malls and online sellers but left smaller committees, traditional market traders and street hawkers struggling, according to trade bodies and businesses quoted in reports published on October 17, 2026. Advertising rates at the biggest pujas rose by at least 20%, while about 30% of outdoor advertising space at small pujas stayed empty, and the state's main traders' confederation warned that deep online discounts were hurting shops.

Durga Puja is the biggest single burst of spending in West Bengal's year. It sustains a long chain of small businesses: idol makers, pandal builders, electricians, decorators, tailors, garment sellers, sweet shops, caterers, transport operators and thousands of street vendors who set up stalls for a few weeks. For many of them, the Puja season decides whether the whole year is profitable. When that money flows mainly to the largest organisers and to organised retail, the people at the bottom of the chain feel it first.

The split described this year has two causes. The first is in advertising and sponsorship, which pay for much of a puja's cost. Brands want the crowds that the famous Kolkata pandals draw, and LED screens have let those pujas charge more. Smaller neighbourhood pujas, which draw local visitors, found it harder to sell their banner and hoarding space. The second is in shopping. Malls, department stores and e-commerce platforms offered large discounts and convenience, and shoppers who once crowded markets such as Burrabazar and Hatibagan now spread their spending.

CWBTA president Sushil Poddar was reported as saying that the issue was not the growth of e-commerce in itself but the large difference in prices between online and offline sellers. Asit Kumar Saha of the Hawkers Joint Action Committee said customers were also bargaining harder, which thinned margins or even forced some sales at a loss. These are the views of the trade bodies; online platforms argue that discounts and wider choice benefit shoppers.

Large headline numbers for the Puja economy, often given in tens of thousands of crore rupees, are broad estimates of all the activity around the festival. They do not show how much any single artisan or trader earns, which is why the experience of small businesses can differ sharply from the totals.

Short-term: Small traders and hawkers who stocked up for the Puja may carry unsold goods into Diwali and the wedding season, and some small committees may struggle to cover their costs.

Long-term: If the gap persists, the Puja economy could tilt further towards large organisers and organised retail, and traders' bodies are likely to keep pressing for rules on online discounting. Small businesses may need to sell online themselves, through marketplaces or social media, to keep their share.

Who is affected: Street hawkers, small shopkeepers and artisans in West Bengal, neighbourhood puja committees, mall operators and e-commerce companies, brands that sponsor pujas, and shoppers.

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