Nagpur: As Ganesh Festival is round the corner, Nagpur has geared up to observe 10-day festivities with cheers and gusto. The joy and excitement is truly evident in the fact that Industry Body Assocham has included Nagpur among the top revenue earning cities that rake in big moolah out of the celebration. Nagpur ranks 4th in the net revenue earning from the major cities during Ganeshotsav, with around 1500 mandals. Mumbai alone accounts for nearly 15,000 Ganesh mandals , which includes registered and unregistered, small and large mandals.
Pune however, has about 5,000 pandals, while Ahmedabad and Nagpur account for 2,000 and 1,500 mandals, approximately.
Assocham has begged the annual revenue from Ganeshotsav at Rs 20,000 crore. A paper called ‘Analysing economic boom around Ganeshotsav in India’ has noted that annual revenue from Ganeshotsav has been growing at 30% annually.
This number is only set to go higher every year; the study has found that the number of mandals grows 5-10% every year across the country.
While the number of mandals will be increasing every year, thereby adding to the organisers’ books, the price of Ganesh idols also has also been appreciating by nearly 20-25% every year, on the back of costlier raw materials like, clay, colours, bamboo, and so on. This weighs on revenue.
Annual revenue is one aspect of the contribution that this annual festival makes to the economy. Ganeshotsav also helps thousands of people, most of them hired as private security guards and volunteers, get jobs. Hundreds of idol craftsmen record brisk business, while various skilled and non-skilled labourers make good money as they bring pandal designs to life, the report said.
Ganeshotsav has turned out to be one more avenue for players in the insurance sector to tap. Insurance cover of Ganpati mandals runs into crores of rupees, the study says.
The Assocham study also noted that most of these mandals are adorned with real gold, diamond ornaments, with contributions/donations coming in in various forms — cash, including foreign currency, jewellery, sponsorships, paid requests to perform puja from across India as well as overseas.
