Creative industries around Durga Puja in Bengal worth ₹32,377 crore: Report

The state government had commissioned this study, conducted by experts from the British Council, IIT Kharagpur, and Queen Mary University in UK, to find out the economic impact of Durga Puja

The economic value of the creative industries that crop up around the Durga Puja – the biggest festival in West Bengal – is worth ₹32,377 crore, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said.

A Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata in 2020. (File photo)

The chief minister was citing a 2018 report that the state government had commissioned to find out the economic impact of Durga Puja. The study was conducted by experts from the British Council, IIT Kharagpur, and Queen Mary University in UK.

“As per the report that was submitted on Monday, the economy of creative industries around Durga Puja is ₹32,377 crore, which is equal to $4.53 billion. This is a huge amount of money for a seven-day festival. It is comparable to the GDP of Maldives and around 2.5% of the GDP of West Bengal,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

“This complex research, and as far as we know, the first of its kind in India done on this scale, combines both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the ecosystem of the economy that feeds the festival. It was done based on the same methodology that maps the Edinburgh and Rio festivals,” said Barbara Wickham, director of the British Council in India.

Banerjee also said that her government would urge United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare the week-long festival held every year around October as one of the best in the world. “We would urge UNESO to declare Durga Puja as one of the best festivals in the world,” she said at the state secretariat.