Indians splurge big on festive season sales, buoying economy

India’s festive season spending is booming as consumers splurge on cars, smartphones and TVs, buoying growth in one of the world’s fastest-expanding economies.

Sales at online platforms like Amazon.com Inc., and Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart was up by almost a fifth in the first week of the festive sales from a year ago. Digital transactions recorded by Unified Payments Interface surged about 40% in October from a year earlier.