One man has been receiving 1,000 calls every day. Another has had to turn down a 400 per cent profit because his stock is finished.
Both the men rent out LED screens, whose demand has skyrocketed ever since India made it to the World Cup final.
The screens are being put up everywhere — the atrium of swanky malls, social clubs, private terraces, banquets and the para clubs.
By Saturday afternoon, almost every supplier that this newspaper spoke to said their stock had finished in just a couple days.
The demand started picking up in the run-up to the semi-final between India and New Zealand on November 15, which the home team won. From the next morning, the demand just exploded.
Khokan Chandra Adak, who runs an LED rental business, has received close to 3,000 calls between Thursday morning and Saturday morning.
So much so, that he has stopped answering unknown calls. Usually, he gets hardly 10 queries per day.
“I had around 15 LED screens (each 12ftX8ft) left on Thursday. By Friday evening, I had none left. Every caller is pleading for a screen. The demand has far surpassed the supply,” said Adak, who has an office and godown in Tollygunge.
His stock, and that of many other suppliers, had already dipped because of the upcoming Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), scheduled for November 21 and 22.
Another supplier, Gautam Bajoria, has also rented out eight screens for the World Cup final.
He has supplied another eight for the BGBS.
The last two of his stock have been rented out to a hall in Bhowanipore and a ground in Beckbagan, behind Quest Mall.
“I feels bad to refuse friends. But what to do? I don’t have any screens left,” said Bajoria, who has an office in Gariahat.
The screens come in different sizes. The screen Bajoria rented out to the banquet measures 12ftX8ft. The one that is headed to the ground is 32ftX14ft.
The rent for the first is Rs 12,000 per day. The second comes at Rs 50,000 a day.
Bajoria said he did not charge a premium to cash- in on the superlative demand.
But Bhaskar Dutta Banik, a supplier in Baranagar, rented out his last 12ftX8ft screens at Rs 35,000 per day.
“I have received over 2,500 calls since Thursday. I have had people queuing up at my office. They are offering Rs 40,000 for a 12ftX8ft. But I had to turn them down because I did not have any stock left,” said Banik.
Most malls and clubs in the city will also organise screenings on Sunday.
Jersey
The blue shirts are flying off the shelves.
Ketan Shah, a stock market investor, has organised a screening at a banquet in Bhowanipore.
“More than 100 people, including budding players, are expected. Most of them will
be in Indian jerseys. The guests will be served tea and snacks,” said Shah, who is at the helm of Friends Sporting Union, which plays in the second-division CAB league.
Ratul Ghosh, 42, a resident of a housing complex off James Long Sarani in Behala, is organising a terrace screening on Sunday.
“The dress code in the Indian jersey,” said Ghosh, a businessman.
The stores of Adidas, the sportswear brand that sponsors the cricket kit of the Men in Blue, have had brisk sales across stores.
“There are three types of official jerseys. The authentic, replica and fan shirts. They come at Rs 5000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,000 each, respectively. All the three segments have seen robust sales. The demand got a significant traction after India’s semi-final victory,” said an official of Adidas, who requested not to be named.