Sadar Bazaar is a wholesale market in

Old Delhi Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

Delhi, India Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its right bank, Del ...

. Like other major markets of

, this market is very crowded and buzzes with activity. Although it is primarily a

wholesale market Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

, it also caters to occasional retail buyers. Owing to the sheer volumes that are traded here every day, a visit to the market can be termed

sensory overload Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that affect an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mas ...

. In addition to being a market for traders, Sadar Bazaar is a assembly constituency. Sadar Bazar is considered the largest wholesale market in India, with daily business transactions estimated at over ₹300 crore.

History

Paharganj Paharganj ( literally 'hilly neighbourhood') is a neighbourhood of Central Delhi, located just west of the New Delhi Railway Station. Known as ''Shahganj'' or King's ganj or market place during Mughal era, it is one of the three administrati ...

, also referred as ''Shahganj'' or King's ganj or market place during

Mughal era The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

, gets its present name 'Paharganj', literally meaning ''Hilly neighbourhood'', owing to its proximity to the

Raisina Hill Raisina Hill (ISO: ''Rāyasīnā kī Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official reside ...

, where the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrapati Bhavana''; ; formerly Viceroy's House (1931–1947) and Government House (1947–1950)) is the official residence of the President of the Republic of India at the western end of Rajpath, Rai ...

stand today. Till, 1857, neighbourhoods like Paharganj, Kishenganj, and Pahari Dhiraj, were separate pockets which in the following years grew and merged, for example Pahari Dhiraj merged into Sadar Bazaar.

Location and transportation

Sadar Bazaar is located on the western side of

Khari Baoli Khari Baoli () is a street in Delhi, India known for its Wholesale marketing, wholesale grocery and Asia's largest wholesale spice market selling a variety of spices, nuts, herbs and food products like rice and tea. Operating since the 17th ...

street. It is connected to the rest of the city via buses (closest station is Kashmere Gate ISBT), auto-rickshaws and trains (closest

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

station is Tis Hazari Metro Station). The area also has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

named Delhi Sadar Bazar (Code: DSB). It is from

New Delhi railway station New Delhi railway station (station code: NDLS) is the primary railway hub for the Indian capital, New Delhi, and an integral part of Indian Railways. Situated in Central Delhi, approximately 2 kilometers north of Connaught Place, the station ...

and trains take about 9 to 15 minutes to reach there. All the trains that stop here are either

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...

MEMU In Indian Railways, a MEMU is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train that serves short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for Mainline Electric Multiple ...

s or

passenger trains A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

consisting of General class seating arrangements. As of 2015, the rail ticket fare for this leg is .

Commodities

Sadar Bazaar consists of numerous smaller markets, including Pratap market, Swadeshi market and Teliwara or Timber market. The market, as a whole, not only deals in household goods, but also in various other items such as toys, imitation jewellery and stationery. It has become a den of

counterfeit products Counterfeit consumer goods are goods illegally made or sold without the brand owner's authorization, often violating trademarks. Counterfeit goods can be found in nearly every industry, from luxury products like designer handbags and watches t ...

of many multi-national companies,

FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG) or convenience goods, are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, bevera ...

products and especially cosmetic goods of deceptively similar character. It was thus listed as a "

notorious market A notorious market is a website or physical market where, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), large-scale intellectual property infringement takes place. Officially termed Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting ...

" by the

USTR The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting Foreign trade of the United States, United States ...

in 2015 for selling counterfeit consumer goods and cosmetics. Traders and shoppers have access to authentic Indian food, including delicacies deep-fried in

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

(clarified butter) and mithai (traditional sweets) of various kinds. The lanes are plenty and narrow, lined with shops selling imported goods, clothing, shoes and leather items, electronic and consumer goods, and more. The market, even more so than the rest of the city, is very congested.

Concerns

Considered by some to be the biggest wholesale market in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, accounts from local traders indicate that Sadar Bazaar suffers from over-congestion of stalls, power cuts, lack of

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

facilities, improper maintenance of roads and frequent traffic jams. Despite being chaotic, Sadar Bazaar remains a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

Swadeshi Market

Swadeshi Market, a dense commercial cluster within Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, consists of hundreds of small wholesale shops selling toys, artificial jewellery, gift items, and plastic goods. It is one of the busiest sections of Sadar Bazaar, with lanes organized by commodity and trader associations managing daily affairs.

Administration and politics

''Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders Association'' (Regd.) is the parental organisation of all the major trade associations of Sadar Bazaar. Sadar Bazaar is part of the Sadar-

constituency, one of the twelve administrative zones of

Municipal Corporation of Delhi Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD; ISO: ''Dillī Nagara Nigama'') is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to a population of about 20 ...

(MCD). As of 2015, this constituency is represented by Som Dutt of the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

. Prior to Dutt, this

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

constituency was represented by Rajesh Jain of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC). Previously a separate parliamentary constituency, Sadar Bazaar became part of the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency following the delimitation of constituencies in 2008. In the

2024 Indian general election General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...

, Praveen Khandelwal of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

won the

Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency is one of the seven Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in the Indian National Capital Territory of Delhi. This constituency came into existence in 1956. It is the smallest constituency of Lok Sabha ...

, defeating Jai Prakash Aggarwal of the

References

{{reflist Bazaars Bazaars in India Cities and towns in North Delhi district Neighbourhoods in Delhi North Delhi district Wholesale markets in India Notorious markets