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Mint
29-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
Why lab-grown diamonds are booming in India—and what's driving first-time buyers to skip mined stones
Preeti, 56, already owned natural diamond solitaires and rings—but it wasn't until last year that she began buying lab-grown ones. 'One can hardly tell the difference; plus it's a good way to continue expanding my collection," she said. Preeti is part of a growing cohort of Indian shoppers, ranging from first-time buyers to seasoned collectors, who are increasingly turning to lab-grown diamonds (LGDS). Once dismissed as niche or inferior, LGDs are gaining traction not just for their lower price point—typically 30–40% cheaper than mined stones of similar grade—but also because of changing consumer attitudes toward jewellery. Retailers say today's buyers are more value-conscious, more open to design variety, and more willing to view LGDs as aspirational, not merely affordable. Read this | Lab-grown diamond startups up marketing budgets to boost awareness 'The lab-grown diamond consumer in India today is young, educated, and value-driven," said Chaitanya V Cotha, executive director at C. Krishniah Chetty Group and its LGD-focused sub-brand 'Over 70% of our buyers are aged between 26–50—a mix of millennials, Gen Z professionals, newlyweds, and independent women making self-purchases. Many are indeed first-time buyers." Cotha adds that a growing share of clients are now second-time or repeat buyers—including high-net-worth individuals, well-travelled shoppers, and brides upgrading their carat size or expanding their personal collections. Nearly 38% of clients purchasing lab-grown diamonds above ₹ 2 lakh already own natural diamonds, he said, citing internal estimates. This growing interest in lab-grown diamonds stems from a mix of factors: falling prices that have widened the gap with natural diamonds, better consumer awareness around the product's quality and value, and a cultural shift away from jewellery as a traditional store of wealth. Retailers say that for younger buyers and modern professionals, design, affordability, and immediacy often outweigh long-term resale or investment value concerns. The Indian market for lab-grown diamonds was pegged at $2.61 billion in 2023 by consulting firm Technopak and is expected to more than triple to $8.31 billion by 2032. The Indian diamond jewellery market is projected to grow to $17 billion by 2031, out of a total Indian gems and jewellery market expected to reach $120 billion from $79 billion in 2021, according to 2024 estimates by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Still, India remains a price-sensitive and gold-dominated market. Diamond acquisition, while rising, is far slower here than in established markets like the US. Retailers say that's beginning to shift. Take Lisa Mukhedkar, founder and CEO of Aukera Grown Diamond Jewellery, who launched her first store in Bengaluru in 2023. Initially, there was very little consumer awareness, she recalled, with their first store often empty. Still, she doubled down—strategically opening stores near major natural diamond retailers. 'Today, I don't think there's a woman looking for diamonds who hasn't heard of LGDs. Very often, they walk in just to check it out—and end up converting on the first visit." 'There are enough skeptics in the market too," Mukhedkar said. 'Some may visit the store but go back to do due diligence and visit more stores. There are also those who wouldn't be caught wearing anything other than natural diamonds ." According to Mukhedkar, there's no longer a 'typical' LGD buyer and anyone shopping for fine jewellery is a potential customer. 'Those upgrading from gold often come to us," she said, adding that in many cases, consumers are skipping mined diamonds altogether and using LGDs as their entry point into the category. Occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, and weddings are still major sales drivers, but the buying journey is increasingly more self-directed. There is a growing trend of self-purchase, with rings as bestsellers and an average ticket size of ₹ 40,000– ₹ 1 lakh, said Vidita Kochar, co-founder of Jewelbox, which launched in 2022 and now operates eight stores. 'A good number of our customers are first-time diamond buyers—people who may have postponed buying due to the traditional price tag or low returns. Now they see LGDs as accessible and practical." Read this | Swarovski turns focus to selling lab grown diamond jewellery in India Behind this demand surge is another force reshaping the category: price. A glut in global supply and a rush of new entrants have dramatically altered lab-grown diamond pricing. An oversupply of lab-grown diamonds and a flood of new players have driven prices sharply lower. Unlike mined diamonds, whose rates are often determined by the supply available in the market, lab-grown stones have seen more erratic pricing due to rapid production scale-up. Globally, the downward trend is stark. Between 2015 and 2024, the price of a 1.5-carat lab-grown diamond fell by as much as 83%, according to a recent report by the Natural Diamonds Council. In contrast, natural diamond prices have risen by an average of 3% annually over the past 50 years, despite fluctuations. However, retailers believe that LGD prices are now stabilizing as demand catches up with supply. "This (lab-grown diamond) is a commodity and we are not insulated from price fluctuations. There was a period when everyone thought this was the next big thing and they put up machines to supply lab-grown diamonds. However, it's not that simple, and there has been a shakeout on the supply end. So, yes there was a glut in the market; but prices have clearly stabilized because demand has increased too. While there was pressure on pricing we do see it stabilize going forward," said Mukhedkar. Kochar said consumer sentiment has 'shifted meaningfully" in just the last couple of years. 'What started as a niche segment is now going mainstream. Consumers today are more aware of the 4Cs [cut, clarity, carat, color] and more confident in what they're buying." Others echo this shift. 'We're seeing everyone buying lab-grown diamonds now," said Toshik Anand, founder of Delhi-based brand Better Diamonds. 'From 20-somethings getting their first piece to people in their 50s or 60s who've bought natural diamonds before and are now upgrading to something bigger or more modern." The shift isn't limited to any one income group, he adds. 'Price matters, of course—but it's not the only reason people are making the switch. It's also value and design." At Akoirah, the LGD brand from bullion company Augmont, founder Namita Kothari said demand has picked up for solitaire earrings, followed by rings and pendants. 'The average price point sits around ₹ 50,000, though we see and have seen a mix of entry-level and high-end buyers. Sensitivity to pricing exists, though it is compensated by increasing familiarity with design and craftsmanship." Also read | Mint Primer: Can Indian diamond exports sparkle again? Like others, Kothari notes that affluent customers are returning for second or third LGD purchases, especially for large solitaires or statement pieces without the premium of mined diamonds. Across the board, retailers say the message is clear: the lab-grown diamond is no longer a compromise. It's becoming a category in its own right—backed by consumer curiosity, expanding access, and a new definition of luxury.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Are 10-minute online deliveries killing the Indian corner shop?
The corner shop Ramji Dharod has manned for over six decades is now on the brink of closure. The store sits in a bylane in the central Indian city of Mumbai's busy shopping precinct, and has served the community for 75 years. Dharod began coming to the shop with his father when he was just 10. These days, he mostly sits idle, waiting for an occasional customer to walk in. Behind him, cardboard boxes of unsold biscuit packets and snacks show a "stock clearance sale" sign posted on them. "I wouldn't get a minute to breathe a few years ago, but now I rarely get anyone coming," says the septuagenarian wryly. "They are all shopping online. I've decided to retire and down the shutters." As 10-minute online deliveries by "quick commerce" apps like Zomato, BlinkIt and Zepto pervade urban India, hundreds of thousands of neighbourhood stores across cities have closed down. A lobby group of consumer product distributors estimated that number to be 200,000 last October, while the municipal body of the southern city of Chennai estimated 20% of small grocers and 30% of larger departmental stores had shut down in the city in the past 5 years. Sunil Kenia who runs a provision store right beside Dharod's shop says he's still in business only because his family owns the shop. Those on rent are no longer able to stay afloat, he says. "It started going downhill after the Covid lockdowns. Business is at 50% of what we did before the pandemic," Kenia told the BBC. Most of his revenue now comes from wholesale customers – hawkers or those selling street-side snacks. The retail customer has all but "vanished", he says, because of the convenience of mobile deliveries. Mumbai-based graphic designer Monisha Sathe is among the millions of urban Indians who've stopped their weekly run to the market because of the ease of quick commerce. "Lugging groceries back home was a big pain," says Sathe. And occasionally, when she took out her car, navigating narrow market lanes and finding a parking slot would be a challenge. Sathe says she misses the human interaction she had with the grocers and vegetable vendors and even the variety of fresh produce on sale – but for her, the balance still tilts in favour of online deliveries because of how much easier it has made her life. A recent survey by consultancy PwC shows some 42% of urban consumers in India's big cities think like Sathe, especially preferring quick delivery for their urgent needs. And these shifts in buying behaviour have led to three out of 10 retailers reporting a negative impact on their business, with a 52% drop in essential goods sales. But to what extent is quick commerce really hollowing out the Indian high street? There's no doubt general trade – which includes grocery stores, corner shops and even big retail outlets – has come under threat, says Ankur Bisen, a partner at Technopak retail advisory. But at least for now "quick commerce is still a three-four city story", he says. Nearly all of their sales come from these cities. Lightning fast deliveries bucked the global trend and became successful in India largely due to a large concentration of people staying in urban clusters. They are serviced through low-rent "dark stores" - or small shops dedicated to delivery and not open to the public - in densely populated areas, enabling economies of scale. But the precarious nature of demand and fragmented demographics of smaller towns could make it expensive for quick commerce players to expand and make money beyond the metros, says Mr Bisen. There's little doubt though that these online deliveries will disrupt trade in the longer run. Bain and Company expects quick commerce to grow at over 40% annually through to 2030, driven by expansion across "geographies". And this has made traditional retail nervous. Trade organisations - like the Confederation of All India Traders, or the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation which calls itself the voice of India's 13m retailers - have made urgent and repeated pleas to the government against this breakneck expansion. They allege that these companies are using billions of dollars in venture capital funds to engage in anti-competitive practices like "predatory pricing" or "deep discounting" which has further distorted the playing field for mom-and-pop shops. The BBC spoke to several small retailers who shared these concerns. Mr Bisen too agreed there's evidence of such practices in the clusters that quick commerce companies operate. Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit, who primarily control this market, did not agree to comment on the BBC's queries on these allegations. But a source within one of the quick commerce companies told the BBC the discounting was done by traders on the platform and not by them. The source also said that contrary to the binary narrative of the "big guy versus small guy", online deliveries were solving real-world challenges for people for whom going to the market was a "traumatic" experience. "Think of women or senior citizens - they don't want to be harassed or navigate potholes and traffic," the source said. "Also consider the small brands that sell on our platform - they never get shelf space in physical shops where only the big names are displayed. We've democratised the market." Analysts say, the sheer diversity of India in terms of its stages of development, levels of income and infrastructure will mean that in the end all retail models - small corner shops, organised big retailers and quick commerce platforms - will cohabit in the country. This is not a "winner takes all market", says Mr Bisen, giving the example of e-commerce which came into India in 2010 and was meant to sound the death knell of local retailers. Even after all these years, only 4% of all shopping is done online in India. But the ripples caused by quick commerce should be a warning for physical retailers, say analysts, to improve their marketing and integrate technology to use both online and offline channels to give their consumers a better shopping experience. Competing with click-of-a-button delivery means it can no longer be business as usual for the millions of corner shops who've existed for decades, with little or no innovation. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Are 10-minute online deliveries killing the Indian corner shop?
The corner shop Ramji Dharod has manned for over six decades is now on the brink of closure. The store sits in a bylane in the central Indian city of Mumbai's busy shopping precinct, and has served the community for 75 years. Dharod began coming to the shop with his father when he was just 10. These days, he mostly sits idle, waiting for an occasional customer to walk in. Behind him, cardboard boxes of unsold biscuit packets and snacks show a "stock clearance sale" sign posted on them. "I wouldn't get a minute to breathe a few years ago, but now I rarely get anyone coming," says the septuagenarian wryly. "They are all shopping online. I've decided to retire and down the shutters." As 10-minute online deliveries by "quick commerce" apps like Zomato, BlinkIt and Zepto pervade urban India, hundreds of thousands of neighbourhood stores across cities have closed down. A lobby group of consumer product distributors estimated that number to be 200,000 last October, while the municipal body of the southern city of Chennai estimated 20% of small grocers and 30% of larger departmental stores had shut down in the city in the past 5 years. Sunil Kenia who runs a provision store right beside Dharod's shop says he's still in business only because his family owns the shop. Those on rent are no longer able to stay afloat, he says. "It started going downhill after the Covid lockdowns. Business is at 50% of what we did before the pandemic," Kenia told the BBC. Most of his revenue now comes from wholesale customers – hawkers or those selling street-side snacks. The retail customer has all but "vanished", he says, because of the convenience of mobile deliveries. Mumbai-based graphic designer Monisha Sathe is among the millions of urban Indians who've stopped their weekly run to the market because of the ease of quick commerce. "Lugging groceries back home was a big pain," says Sathe. And occasionally, when she took out her car, navigating narrow market lanes and finding a parking slot would be a challenge. Sathe says she misses the human interaction she had with the grocers and vegetable vendors and even the variety of fresh produce on sale – but for her, the balance still tilts in favour of online deliveries because of how much easier it has made her life. A recent survey by consultancy PwC shows some 42% of urban consumers in India's big cities think like Sathe, especially preferring quick delivery for their urgent needs. And these shifts in buying behaviour have led to three out of 10 retailers reporting a negative impact on their business, with a 52% drop in essential goods sales. But to what extent is quick commerce really hollowing out the Indian high street? There's no doubt general trade – which includes grocery stores, corner shops and even big retail outlets – has come under threat, says Ankur Bisen, a partner at Technopak retail advisory. But at least for now "quick commerce is still a three-four city story", he says. Nearly all of their sales come from these cities. Lightning fast deliveries bucked the global trend and became successful in India largely due to a large concentration of people staying in urban clusters. They are serviced through low-rent "dark stores" - or small shops dedicated to delivery and not open to the public - in densely populated areas, enabling economies of scale. But the precarious nature of demand and fragmented demographics of smaller towns could make it expensive for quick commerce players to expand and make money beyond the metros, says Mr Bisen. There's little doubt though that these online deliveries will disrupt trade in the longer run. Bain and Company expects quick commerce to grow at over 40% annually through to 2030, driven by expansion across "geographies". And this has made traditional retail nervous. Trade organisations - like the Confederation of All India Traders, or the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation which calls itself the voice of India's 13m retailers - have made urgent and repeated pleas to the government against this breakneck expansion. They allege that these companies are using billions of dollars in venture capital funds to engage in anti-competitive practices like "predatory pricing" or "deep discounting" which has further distorted the playing field for mom-and-pop shops. The BBC spoke to several small retailers who shared these concerns. Mr Bisen too agreed there's evidence of such practices in the clusters that quick commerce companies operate. Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit, who primarily control this market, did not agree to comment on the BBC's queries on these allegations. But a source within one of the quick commerce companies told the BBC the discounting was done by traders on the platform and not by them. The source also said that contrary to the binary narrative of the "big guy versus small guy", online deliveries were solving real-world challenges for people for whom going to the market was a "traumatic" experience. "Think of women or senior citizens - they don't want to be harassed or navigate potholes and traffic," the source said. "Also consider the small brands that sell on our platform - they never get shelf space in physical shops where only the big names are displayed. We've democratised the market." Analysts say, the sheer diversity of India in terms of its stages of development, levels of income and infrastructure will mean that in the end all retail models - small corner shops, organised big retailers and quick commerce platforms - will cohabit in the country. This is not a "winner takes all market", says Mr Bisen, giving the example of e-commerce which came into India in 2010 and was meant to sound the death knell of local retailers. Even after all these years, only 4% of all shopping is done online in India. But the ripples caused by quick commerce should be a warning for physical retailers, say analysts, to improve their marketing and integrate technology to use both online and offline channels to give their consumers a better shopping experience. Competing with click-of-a-button delivery means it can no longer be business as usual for the millions of corner shops who've existed for decades, with little or no innovation. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Swiggy, Zepto: Are 10-minute online deliveries killing the Indian corner shop?
The corner shop Ramji Dharod has manned for over six decades is now on the brink of store sits in a bylane in the central Indian city of Mumbai's busy shopping precinct, and has served the community for 75 began coming to the shop with his father when he was just 10. These days, he mostly sits idle, waiting for an occasional customer to walk him, cardboard boxes of unsold biscuit packets and snacks show a "stock clearance sale" sign posted on them."I wouldn't get a minute to breathe a few years ago, but now I rarely get anyone coming," says the septuagenarian wryly. "They are all shopping online. I've decided to retire and down the shutters."As 10-minute online deliveries by "quick commerce" apps like Zomato, BlinkIt and Zepto pervade urban India, hundreds of thousands of neighbourhood stores across cities have closed down.A lobby group of consumer product distributors estimated that number to be 200,000 last October, while the municipal body of the southern city of Chennai estimated 20% of small grocers and 30% of larger departmental stores had shut down in the city in the past 5 years. Sunil Kenia who runs a provision store right beside Dharod's shop says he's still in business only because his family owns the shop. Those on rent are no longer able to stay afloat, he says."It started going downhill after the Covid lockdowns. Business is at 50% of what we did before the pandemic," Kenia told the of his revenue now comes from wholesale customers – hawkers or those selling street-side snacks. The retail customer has all but "vanished", he says, because of the convenience of mobile graphic designer Monisha Sathe is among the millions of urban Indians who've stopped their weekly run to the market because of the ease of quick commerce."Lugging groceries back home was a big pain," says Sathe. And occasionally, when she took out her car, navigating narrow market lanes and finding a parking slot would be a says she misses the human interaction she had with the grocers and vegetable vendors and even the variety of fresh produce on sale – but for her, the balance still tilts in favour of online deliveries because of how much easier it has made her life.A recent survey by consultancy PwC shows some 42% of urban consumers in India's big cities think like Sathe, especially preferring quick delivery for their urgent needs. And these shifts in buying behaviour have led to three out of 10 retailers reporting a negative impact on their business, with a 52% drop in essential goods sales. But to what extent is quick commerce really hollowing out the Indian high street?There's no doubt general trade – which includes grocery stores, corner shops and even big retail outlets – has come under threat, says Ankur Bisen, a partner at Technopak retail advisory. But at least for now "quick commerce is still a three-four city story", he says. Nearly all of their sales come from these fast deliveries bucked the global trend and became successful in India largely due to a large concentration of people staying in urban are serviced through low-rent "dark stores" - or small shops dedicated to delivery and not open to the public - in densely populated areas, enabling economies of the precarious nature of demand and fragmented demographics of smaller towns could make it expensive for quick commerce players to expand and make money beyond the metros, says Mr little doubt though that these online deliveries will disrupt trade in the longer and Company expects quick commerce to grow at over 40% annually through to 2030, driven by expansion across "geographies".And this has made traditional retail organisations - like the Confederation of All India Traders, or the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation which calls itself the voice of India's 13m retailers - have made urgent and repeated pleas to the government against this breakneck allege that these companies are using billions of dollars in venture capital funds to engage in anti-competitive practices like "predatory pricing" or "deep discounting" which has further distorted the playing field for mom-and-pop BBC spoke to several small retailers who shared these concerns. Mr Bisen too agreed there's evidence of such practices in the clusters that quick commerce companies operate. Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit, who primarily control this market, did not agree to comment on the BBC's queries on these a source within one of the quick commerce companies told the BBC the discounting was done by traders on the platform and not by source also said that contrary to the binary narrative of the "big guy versus small guy", online deliveries were solving real-world challenges for people for whom going to the market was a "traumatic" experience."Think of women or senior citizens - they don't want to be harassed or navigate potholes and traffic," the source said. "Also consider the small brands that sell on our platform - they never get shelf space in physical shops where only the big names are displayed. We've democratised the market."Analysts say, the sheer diversity of India in terms of its stages of development, levels of income and infrastructure will mean that in the end all retail models - small corner shops, organised big retailers and quick commerce platforms - will cohabit in the is not a "winner takes all market", says Mr Bisen, giving the example of e-commerce which came into India in 2010 and was meant to sound the death knell of local after all these years, only 4% of all shopping is done online in the ripples caused by quick commerce should be a warning for physical retailers, say analysts, to improve their marketing and integrate technology to use both online and offline channels to give their consumers a better shopping experience. Competing with click-of-a-button delivery means it can no longer be business as usual for the millions of corner shops who've existed for decades, with little or no innovation. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Affluent India's pet obsession is fuelling a boom in care industry
For Neha Bapna, nothing in the world is more important than her dog time she takes a train to travel across India, the four-year-old Shih Tzu is right by her side - in first class. He only eats hypoallergenic food, which is often double the price of normal dog food and treats. "I have spent sleepless nights trying to figure out what food suits him. He is my child, I do not want him to have any trouble," says the 43-year-old Mumbai-based one's pet used to be a luxury exclusive to the ultra-rich. But now affluent and middle-class urban Indians like Ms Bapna are splurging more on their "fur babies", fuelling a boom in India's pet care industry that has almost doubled in value in recent pandemic has played a huge role, according to Ankur Bisen, senior partner at Technopak retail consultancy. "Covid created a need for companionship when people were staying at home. So you could see young mothers, people in their first jobs, people who by choice decided not to have kids... All these people started going for pet ownership," he number of pets in Indian households has grown sharply from 26 million in 2019 to 32 million in 2024, according to a report by consulting firm as late marriages, smaller family sizes and evolving social norms reshape family structures in urban India, these pets are increasingly being given the care and attention typically reserved for children. Nikhil Bhushan and Lakshna Gulati, who live in the capital, Delhi, say raising their pets allows them to experience parenthood without couple, who have no biological children, share their home with two rescued pets: a dog named Mowgli and a cat named Marmalade."When we got married five years ago, we weren't ready to have children, but soon after rescuing the pets, our house truly became a home – there was something missing which is now complete. They bring us joy and seeing them every day brightens our lives," says Mr Bhushan."We like to spoil them," adds Ms Gulati. "Whenever we see [a toy] they might like, we immediately buy it, even knowing it will be destroyed in no time."In 2024, Indians spent $3.6bn (£2.78bn) on products and services for their pets, a substantial increase from $1.6bn in 2019, according to the Redseer rapid growth has been fuelled by emerging trends such as pet boarding, insurance and specialised veterinary care."Twenty years ago, pet care was limited to basic services like vaccination and veterinary care," says Pankaj Poddar, chief executive of pet care company Zigly."Now, people want the best for their pets - whether it's clothing, accessories, or even specialised services," he says. "I have seen parents spend as much as 10% of their incomes on their pets - be it taking them to special parties or even regular checkups."Ms Bapna, for instance, spends between 25,000 rupees ($290; £220) and 40,000 rupees on Muffin in a month, mostly on his travel and special takes her dog on a trip every few weeks, whether it's a day outing to a nearby farmhouse or a longer stay at a resort, and stays in pet-friendly accommodation which are pricier than regular she takes the train to Jodhpur every few months to visit her parents, Ms Bapna buys first-class tickets - which are more than double the price of general tickets - as dogs and cats in India are only allowed in first-class coaches. Ms Bapna doesn't mind the huge bills. When it comes to spending on Muffin, she says, "This is one area where I make no concessions."This kind of spending has propelled sales for pet care companies like Zigly."In the last eight-to-nine months, we have grown between 7% and 10% month-on-month," says Mr Poddar, whose company has reached a monthly gross merchandise value of around 46m rupees per month and is expected to reach 1bn rupees by next companies which offer cheaper services, such as pet care chain The Pet Point, have also sprung up to cater to the increasingly middle-class most Indian pet parents these days, "value for money takes precedence over premiumisation", says The Pet Point's co-founder Akshay Mahendru. "A customer is more likely to get grooming services for their pet every week for 600 rupees, rather than somewhere above 1,500 rupees."Mr Mahendru says that sales for comparatively cheaper pet products like toys or snacks has also increased manifold with the emergence of quick commerce platforms like Zepto or Blinkit that do deliveries in 10-15 are optimistic that India's pet care market has room to grow, given global trends. According to Bloomberg Intelligence's Pet Economy Report 2023, the global pet care sector, currently valued at $320bn, could exceed $500bn by the end of this report estimates India's pet care market to double in the next three years and potentially cross $7bn by challenges still remain. India continues to be dogged by unequal economic growth, slowing consumption and wage stagnation which can dampen the industry's growth. Most cities here also lack pet-friendly public spaces, hotels and transport options, presenting a multitude of inconveniences to pet Mr Bhushan and Ms Gulati travel with Mowgli, they bring portable beds and disposable plates and bowls "so we're always prepared during our stays", says Mr Bhushan."However, problems arise when we go for meals during our trips. Many places do not accept pets, which limits our options," he Bapna faces similar challenges when travelling with Muffin. But she is optimistic that things will change."When I first got him in 2021, there were very few pet-friendly places and activities. But now in Mumbai there are special events, resorts and cafes that welcome pets," she days Muffin gets to attend "socialisation events", where he gets to play with other dogs, or goes to pet festivals where he can play games and sample special pet food."It gives me hope," Ms Bapna says with a BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.
