Burma Bazaar

Burma Bazaar is a market run by Burmese refugees in Chennai, India. It is located at Parrys Corner and is one of the several unorganized or grey market shopping hubs of Chennai. The bazaar was set up in 1969 by the Government of Tamil Nadu. It is located just outside the Chennai Beach railway station, in the old financial district of the city at George Town. It is a row of about 200 shops that line either side of the road for about a kilometre.

History

Burma Bazaar was established by Burmese immigrants, who were Tamil refugees who fled Myanmar during the early 1960s.^[1][2] The government set aside land for the Tamil refugees returning from Burma during the 1960s. The bazaar is run by the Burma Tamizhar Marumalarchi Sangam, an association that has been set up to look after the interests of the traders since 1966.^[3]

The bazaar

The bazaar extends to about a kilometre along the Chennai Beach railway station. There are an estimated 200 shops in the bazaar. With several passengers coming out of the station every few minutes, the market appears busy all the time. It is estimated that over 100,000 people pass through this corridor every week.^[3]

Per 2017 estimates, there are over 600 shops in the bazaar employing over 5,000 people.^[4]

It had been listed as a notorious market between 2009 and 2017 by the USTR for selling various counterfeit goods and pirated media and software.^[5][6][7][8]

In media

Ayan, a 2009 Indian film, shows the operations of selling CDs, software, electronics, perfumes, and other goods in great detail. Other Indian films which make references to the market include Vattaram (2006) and Kacheri Arambam (2010).

See also

• Arabber
• Bazaar
• George Town
• Hawker centre (Asia) a centre where street food is sold
• Pan Bazaar
• Peddler
• Retail
• Ritchie Street
• Shopping in Chennai
• Street vendor
• Street food

References

1. Venkat, Vidya (21 July 2008). "Grey markets, but never in the red". The Hindu. Chennai. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
2. Muthiah, S. (2014). Madras Rediscovered. Chennai: EastWest. p. 334. ISBN 978-93-84030-28-5.
3. "Buzz hour". The Hindu. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
4. Sanjay Vijayakumar, Sangeetha Kandavel (29 June 2017). "Chennai's grey markets remain fuzzy about GST". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
5. "2017 Out of Cycle Review of Notorious Markets" (PDF). Office of the United States Trade Representative. 11 January 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
6. "2016 Out of Cycle Review of Notorious Markets" (PDF). Office of the United States Trade Representative. December 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
7. "Section 3" . Special 301 Report – via Wikisource.
8. "Section 3" . Special 301 Report – via Wikisource.

External links

• Burma Bazaar's `win-win' proposal for Kollywood

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