Chandigarh, May 21: In the world of growing commercialisation and market trends, the business gurus are now targetting the Punjabis as their customers.

41-year-old Navneet Saxena is an engineer by profession, and he also converted his hobby photography into a profession. He has the dreams that any middle class family has a sweet home, a luxury car and branded clothes to wear.

Navneet has recently bought an expensive luxury watch. Its cost a mind boggling 3,500 US dollars.

"People say that when I bought this watch to establish my status. Probably my next dream would be to buy a Mercedes," said Navneet.

There are now a wide variety of foreign goods in the market, people like Navneet are easily attracted to them.

In India, over 35 million watches are sold every year. Cities like Chandigarh are being flooded with foreign goods, costing thousand of US dollars.

In Punjab, from where a majority of people goes abroad, the demands for foreign products have increased tremendously.

"You buy a product because of its functional value. On the other hand, you buy products because they also give you a competitive status," said Promod Kumar, an economist.

With the growing consumerism in the big cities of Punjab, the business gurus have introduced the culture of malls. It's not just the availability of various brands here, but also a stack up place for celebrity brands.

"Obviously, when we go out for shopping, we look for international brands and they are most trustworthy. If you go for cheap thing, they do not last long," said Sunita, a customer.

Rahul, another customer added, "Quality matters the most. If you have to bye a good brand then we have to pay for it.

Punjab has a rapidly growing economy. People here want to show it to the world. With its roads teeming with the luxury cars, they want to proclaim to the world how life is to be enjoyed.

This is just a beginning for Punjab to register its name in the commercial world. (ANI)