Chennai’s hub for bargain deals on electronics loses its Chinese edge

Ritchie Street, India’s second largest electronics market, is a favourite haunt in Chennai for bargain hunters. The narrow streets, once crowded, look forlorn as only 50 per cent of shops are open and walk-ins have reduced.

Coronavirus pandemic shut down the market for two months, and when was business was picking up late June the country was in an anti-China mood. The market gets around 60 per cent of components and finished goods from that country.

Ritchie Street, which started in 1970, is a “grey market”. Transactions without a bill or warranty are common, but yet the market accounts for nearly 40 per cent of branded electronic products sold in Tamil Nadu.

Around 1,500 shops–employing about 8,000 people directly and another 10,000 indirectly–sell and repair mobile phones, computers, laptops, cameras, and other electronic gadgets.