<p>India's top retail trade body said on Sunday that sales during the country's Diwali festive period rose by more than 10% year-on-year, indicating "good business prospects" for small businesses.</p>.<p>The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which claims to represent tens of millions of firms across the country, said that sales of its members during the one-month festive season that ended on Saturday increased to more than 720 billion rupees ($9.7 billion).</p>.<p>"People didn't purchase anything in the last eight months except essentials. Hence people had enough surplus money, and a portion was spent on Diwali festivities," Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT's secretary-general told Reuters.</p>.<p>CAIT members include retailers who sell everything from electrical items to furniture and footwear. The trade body said it gathered sales data from 20 cities.</p>.<p>Despite the upbeat report, India's economy, which grew at the slowest pace in over a decade during the year to the end of March, is likely to enter a technical recession for the first time since independence in 1947.</p>.<p>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forecast a contraction of 8.6% in the July-September quarter, on the back of a 23.9% contraction in the April-June quarter.</p>.<p>However, India could return to growth in the ongoing quarter ending December 2020 if the "momentum" gained in September and October is sustained, the RBI said this week.</p>.<p>The central bank said there was "optimism that the revival of economic activity is stronger than the mere satiation of pent-up demand," adding that similar consumption patterns could ensure a return to growth earlier than expected.</p>
<p>India's top retail trade body said on Sunday that sales during the country's Diwali festive period rose by more than 10% year-on-year, indicating "good business prospects" for small businesses.</p>.<p>The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which claims to represent tens of millions of firms across the country, said that sales of its members during the one-month festive season that ended on Saturday increased to more than 720 billion rupees ($9.7 billion).</p>.<p>"People didn't purchase anything in the last eight months except essentials. Hence people had enough surplus money, and a portion was spent on Diwali festivities," Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT's secretary-general told Reuters.</p>.<p>CAIT members include retailers who sell everything from electrical items to furniture and footwear. The trade body said it gathered sales data from 20 cities.</p>.<p>Despite the upbeat report, India's economy, which grew at the slowest pace in over a decade during the year to the end of March, is likely to enter a technical recession for the first time since independence in 1947.</p>.<p>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has forecast a contraction of 8.6% in the July-September quarter, on the back of a 23.9% contraction in the April-June quarter.</p>.<p>However, India could return to growth in the ongoing quarter ending December 2020 if the "momentum" gained in September and October is sustained, the RBI said this week.</p>.<p>The central bank said there was "optimism that the revival of economic activity is stronger than the mere satiation of pent-up demand," adding that similar consumption patterns could ensure a return to growth earlier than expected.</p>