It has been almost three years since demonetisation and two years since good and services tax (GST) implementation, but city's small businesses have still not revived from the economic shock. From manufacturers of garments and leather at Dharavi to members of the Koli and the Qureshi communities, all are counting their losses since note ban in 2016. They now have little expectation of revival as they see no hopeful candidates for the upcoming assembly elections.

Pratap Rai Harjani, 65, who sells iron shutter gates in Dharavi, said, "Before demonetisation, I used to get more than 50 orders in a month but now the number has dropped to 25," said Harjani. Abdul Malik, 43, who makes wallets, sent his wife and six children back home in Bihar a couple of years back to save money. Malik once used to get orders for 3,000-4,000 wallets, but now he barely sells about 1000-1200.