Value of creative economy around Durga Puja leaps by 54%
In a big positive, the creative economy around Durga Puja, comprising of business activities like retail (that is, sales by businesses), idol-making, setting up of pandals, manufacturing, food and beverages, and advertisement, underwent a huge leap this year, as compared to 2019.
The Durga Puja held in 2019 was the last pre-pandemic one. After that, in the next two Pujas, there naturally was a big dip in the Durga Puja-related economy.
The Forum for Durgotsab, an organisation representing around 500 Durga Puja committees, told The Times of India for a report that the creative economy this year generated around Rs 50,000 crore, as compared to Rs 32,377 crore in 2019 (as calculated in a joint study by the British Council, IIT Kharagpur and Queen Mary University of the UK).
Thus, the creative economy saw a growth of 54 per cent approximately.
According to experts, there were two prime reasons for this:
- People came out in droves for Durga Puja after two years, and the consequent preparatory pre-Puja expenditure and Puja spending, and
- UNESCO’s recognition of Durga Puja as an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’, which gave an added impetus to people to go for a renewed experience of Durga Puja, especially in Kolkata.
This big rise in the value of the creative economy around Durga Puja will naturally have a major impact on the GDP (which measures the total value of goods and services produced over a period of time) of Bengal.
