Chandni Chowk, Delhi
In Chandni Chowk, your lane decides your books
A jeweller in Dariba Kalan and a bookseller on Nai Sarak are a short walk apart, and their accounts have almost nothing in common. Delhi Tourism lists what each lane is known for, so here is what follows from that for your records.
Lane by lane
The trades are as described by Delhi Tourism. Lanes hold many other businesses too. The accounting points are our general analysis, so check tax treatment for your exact goods.
| Lane | Known for | What your books turn on |
|---|---|---|
| Dariba Kalan | Pearl, gold and silver jewellery, and attar | Metal weight and making charges shown apart; old gold taken in exchange; goods with karigars |
| Katra Neel | Silks, satin, crepe, cotton and muslin | Stock by metre and lot; roll ends and short lengths; credit to tailors and boutiques |
| Kinari Bazaar | Zari and zardozi trimmings and tinsel | Many tiny items sold by length or weight; wedding-season peaks; small cash sales |
| Bhagirath Palace | Electrical goods, medical equipment and medicines | Brand schemes and credit notes; for medicines, batch numbers and expiry dates |
| Tilak Bazaar | Chemicals | Stock by grade and weight; purchase and sale records you may need to produce to others |
| Nai Sarak | School and college textbooks | Peak sales at the start of term; unsold editions and returns to publishers; rates that differ between books and stationery |
Jewellers: gold moves without a sale
Gold goes to a karigar and returns as finished pieces, slightly lighter or with some loss. Customers bring old jewellery in exchange. Neither is a simple sale, and both can make stock look wrong.
- Keep a register by weight and purity for gold out and in
- Agree an allowed loss for each karigar in writing
- Show old gold received on the customer's bill
- Ask how section 143 of the CGST Act applies to goods with karigars
Medicine and chemical traders
Goods with a shelf life need more than a quantity. Without batch and expiry details, you cannot tell what is about to lose its value, or answer a question about a sold lot.
Record expired goods when you remove them, and any return to the supplier. Ask how to treat tax credit already taken on goods written off. Licences for these trades are outside this page, but keep their costs and renewal dates on file.
What every lane shares
Whatever you sell, old-market trade tends to mean party credit, family staff, and paper. Three habits help everywhere:
- Separate family withdrawals from business expenses
- Match each day's cash and UPI to the bills raised
- Photograph paper bills weekly, so a lost file is not a lost year
See accounting for traders and the monthly documents checklist.
Getting records out of the lanes
Paper bills and registers are still common here. Decide at the start how copies will leave the shop. Photographing bills and sending them each week is usually more reliable than waiting for an occasional collection, since lanes and parking make irregular trips hard to keep up.
AccountOrbit takes enquiries by phone from anywhere in Delhi, including Chandni Chowk, but has no office there. The lanes are named on this page only to explain their trades.
Sources checked, November 2026
- Delhi Tourism on Chandni Chowk (opens in a new tab) (official; a tourism description, not a trade survey)
- CGST Act as amended to 1 January 2022 (opens in a new tab), section 143 (read at source; check for later changes)
Trading from a Chandni Chowk lane?
Tell us your trade and lane, your rough monthly bill count, and whether records are on paper.
