Last updated 16 September 2026. Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday 8 November. Prices below are single-unit list prices from our live catalogue on 16 September 2026, before bulk tiers; every product named is linked so you can check the current price.
The short answer
Most Indian companies gift between ₹500 and ₹1,500 a head at Diwali. ₹500 buys a good single festive object or a small potli hamper; ₹1,000 buys a complete eco or tea-and-coffee hamper; ₹1,500 buys the classic dry-fruit-and-sweets box with room for branding; ₹2,500 buys a keepsake hamper for clients and leadership. Add GST to every figure — 5% for most food-and-décor hampers since September 2025, 18% the moment a bottle or gadget goes into the box — and order branded runs by mid-October.
How to set the per-head budget
Three numbers decide it, and none of them is "what looks nice":
- Headcount × tier. Most programmes have two or three tiers — the whole workforce, managers, and a short list of clients or leadership. A ₹700 / ₹1,500 / ₹3,000 split over 300 / 40 / 15 people is a typical shape.
- The ₹5,000 perquisite line. Gifts from an employer above an aggregate of ₹5,000 in a financial year are taxable in the employee's hands (Income-tax Rule 3(7)(iv)). If the year already carried an anniversary gift, Diwali has to fit inside what is left.
- GST as cost, not credit. Input tax credit on gifts is blocked under Section 17(5)(h), so the GST on the invoice is part of the landed cost. The rate the hamper carries — 5% or 18% — is decided by its contents; see the rate trap below and our guide to GST on corporate gifts.
₹500 a head: one good object, or a small festive hamper
At ₹500 the choice is between a single well-made festive piece and a compact hamper. Both work; the single object is safer across a large, varied workforce.
- Shagun — Diwali potli hamper, ₹499: dry fruits, chocolates and diyas in a cloth potli. The complete small hamper at this band, and it takes a logo on the tag.
- Ceramic diya set and sandalwood incense: the festive essentials, pairable inside ₹500 with a printed card.
- Handcrafted jute toran, ₹349: a door hanging every household uses at Diwali, and unusual enough to be remembered.
- Golden loban burner, ₹475: a ritual object that stays on the shelf all year.
Full band: Diwali gifts under ₹500; the corporate edit with branding-ready pieces at corporate Diwali gifts under ₹500.
₹1,000 a head: a complete hamper
This is where a box with several real things inside becomes possible, and it is the band most employee programmes land in.
- Hara Diwali, ₹799: bamboo notebook and pen, incense, rose dhoop cones, two diyas and a planter kit — a full eco-friendly Diwali box with money left for home delivery. For CSR-led programmes, the whole eco-friendly Diwali gifts edit sits around this price.
- Duet — tea and coffee hamper, ₹999: rose green tea, cranberry coffee, two rice-husk kulhads and a candle. The safest hamper across any team, because everyone drinks something hot.
- Lakshmi Ganesh prosperity box, ₹999: the devotional gift, for teams and clients where the festival's meaning is the point.
Full band: Diwali gifts under ₹1,000.
₹1,500 a head: the classic Diwali box, with room to brand
Dry fruits, sweets, a candle or a diya, in a box that carries the company's name. This is the Diwali hamper most people picture, and ₹1,200–1,800 is where it lives.
- Neel — tea and drinkware hamper, ₹1,199: blue-pea tea with a glass bottle and a wheat-straw sipper.
- Sampann — gourmet hamper, ₹1,399: dry fruits, granola and cookies.
- Mewa aur Chai, ₹1,499: Kashmiri kahwa, coffee and rice-husk kulhads with dry fruit.
- Thaal — open wooden tray hamper, ₹1,500: 18 items — 400 g of dry fruits, baklava, besan laddu, masala chai, coffee and two kulhads — on a tray that takes an engraved logo. The most-branded hamper in the range for a reason.
- Aangan — handwoven basket, ₹1,599, and Shubh Mewa — dry fruit hamper, ₹1,799, for the traditional shape.
Corporate edit with branding and bulk tiers: corporate Diwali gifts; for teams specifically, Diwali gifts for employees.
₹2,500 a head: clients, partners and leadership
At this band the box is a keepsake and the contents are generous — the gift a client remembers in January.
- Sugandh — aroma and dry fruit hamper, ₹1,999: lavender vaporiser set, candle, potpourri, dry fruits and teas.
- Elysian Box, ₹2,190, and Peetal Prakash — brass hamper, ₹2,499: brass and keepsake pieces that outlast the sweets.
- Sukoon — wellness hamper, ₹2,499: bath salt, pulse-point roller, essential oil, sandalwood soy candle, tea, cookies and a reusable bottle.
- Above ₹2,500: Tijori at ₹3,999 and Kanak at ₹5,999 with half a kilo of dry fruit on almond and cashew platters, a brass diya and a puja set.
Full band: luxury Diwali hampers; the leadership tier year-round at premium corporate gifts.
The GST rate trap in a Diwali hamper
A hamper is a mixed supply, taxed at the highest rate among its contents. Invoicing the bottle separately keeps the hamper at 5%.
A hamper is a mixed supply under Section 8(b) of the CGST Act, taxed at the highest rate among its contents. Since the 22 September 2025 rate rationalisation, dry fruits, chocolates, sweets, bakery and candles sit at 5%, so a classic Diwali box can be invoiced at 5% on the whole price. Put one 18% item inside — a steel bottle, a speaker, a leather pouch — and the whole hamper is taxed at 18%. On a ₹1,500 hamper that is ₹75 against ₹270 per head, or ₹58,500 across 300 people. If the bottle matters, have it invoiced as a separate line so the hamper stays at 5%, and agree the treatment with your CA before the order is placed.
What branding and delivery add
Branding: a one-colour logo on the box sleeve, ribbon and card is usually a small addition per unit and is quoted with the tier; an engraved tray or notebook costs more but is the piece that gets kept. Products themselves stay clean on most hampers — the recipient keeps a nice object, not an advertisement. Personalisation — each recipient's name on the card — is free. Delivery: single-address delivery to an office is standard; dispatch to individual homes across cities is quoted by address count, and for a remote team it is the line item that decides whether ₹1,000 a head is really ₹1,000. Ask for it in the first quote, not the last.
When to order for Diwali on 8 November
Working back from the festival: home deliveries across cities should leave by 1 November; a branded run needs its production window before that, and a sample a week before the run is confirmed. In practice that puts the decision for a branded programme in the first half of October, and the brief — headcount, tiers, per-head budget, address list — in the last week of September. Ready-to-ship hampers dispatch within 24–48 hours of payment and rescue a late programme, but the branded, engraved and personalised ones do not. The full week-by-week schedule is in our corporate Diwali gifting timeline.
A worked budget: 300 employees, 40 managers, 15 clients
About ₹3.97 lakh at list; bulk tiers bring the real number lower, and all three tiers sit at 5% GST.
- 300 employees at ₹999 — Duet or Hara Diwali, logo on the sleeve, name on the card: ₹2,99,700 before tiers, at 5% GST.
- 40 managers at ₹1,500 — Thaal with the engraved tray: ₹60,000 before tiers, at 5%.
- 15 clients at ₹2,499 — Sukoon or Peetal Prakash in a keepsake box with a signed card: ₹37,485, at 5%.
- Total: about ₹3.97 lakh at list before bulk tiers and before delivery — a programme that lands under ₹4.5 lakh all-in for 355 people, with a single GST invoice and every employee under the ₹5,000 perquisite line.
Bulk tiers start at 25 units and step down with quantity, so the real number is lower than list; send the three headcounts and the date and the quote comes back tiered.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good budget for corporate Diwali gifts per employee?
₹700–1,500 per employee is the common range for Indian companies; ₹500 buys a good single object or a small potli hamper, ₹1,000 a complete hamper, ₹1,500 the classic dry-fruit box with branding. Keep the year's total per employee under ₹5,000 to stay inside the tax-free perquisite limit.
How much does branding add to a Diwali hamper?
A one-colour logo on the sleeve, ribbon and card is a small per-unit addition quoted with the bulk tier; engraving a tray or notebook costs more. Personalising each card with the recipient's name is free.
What GST rate applies to a Diwali gift hamper?
The highest rate among its contents, on the whole price. Since 22 September 2025 most food-and-décor hampers are at 5%; a hamper containing any 18% item, such as a steel bottle, is taxed at 18% unless that item is invoiced separately.
When should a company order Diwali gifts for 8 November 2026?
Brief by the last week of September, confirm a branded run in the first half of October, dispatch home deliveries by 1 November. Ready-to-ship hampers can go out within 24–48 hours of payment for late orders.
Can Diwali gifts be delivered to employees' homes in different cities?
Yes. Send the address list; dispatch is quoted by address count with tracking on every parcel, and one GST invoice covers the whole order.
Prices are single-unit list prices from thehappinessstory.com on 16 September 2026 and change with bulk tiers; the product links show the current price. Tax figures reflect the CGST Act and Income-tax Rules as of the date above; confirm your company's treatment with your CA. To brief a Diwali programme, send headcount, tiers, per-head budget and delivery date through the corporate enquiry form.