The Big Fat Indian Wedding season commences from 23rd November to December 15th. ₹4.5 Trillion worth of business is expected to take place in the behemoth Indian wedding season. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) have made this estimation.
In the comparable period last year, a total of around 3.2 million weddings were held, resulting in a business of ₹3.75 trillion, the report added, citing the survey.
Out of the total estimated weddings this year, 10 percent or 3.5 lakh are expected to be held in Delhi alone, the survey reportedly noted.
Among the total weddings, an estimated 50,000 will fall in the luxury category, with expenses of ₹1 crore or more, CAIT national president B C Bhartia and secretary general Praveen Khandelwal reportedly said. Another 50,000 will feature expenses to the tune of ₹50 lakh per wedding, whereas, about 6 lakh weddings would be such where the estimated expenses would be around ₹25 lakh.
The bulk of the weddings, nearly 1.2 million, are estimated to incur expenses of around ₹10 lakh, whereas, another 1 million weddings would incur expenses of about ₹6 lakh each.
In Kolkata and its surrounding areas more than 50000 weddings are anticipated. The local wedding businesses are expecting a 35% surge. That could potentially surpass the 50000 Crore mark.
Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of CAIT was optimistic enough about the Wedding Business sector reaching the demand of the consumers even after an overwhelming and successful Diwali season.
What are the main areas of business in the Big Fat Indian Wedding season?
The big fat Indian wedding relies upon several integral business areas of the country. The main ones remain; Jewellery, Hospitality, Catering, Automobile sectors and Apparels.
Huge hotel chains like the Taj, Oberoi and others remain packed to capacity because of weddings. The trend of celebrating weddings outside of India has subsequently faded as the trend of “Big Fat Indian Wedding” hopes to retain its land. Picturesque locations like Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Kerala, Goa and many others attract a lot of bride and grooms.
India’s probably oldest and fundamental ritual remains to gift gold on auspicious days. The jewellery sector which includes retail, whole and manufacturing manage to build a lot of business in these days credits to the undying consumer demands. Huge sales also lead to increment in the national gold rate.
Along with exquisite locations; Indians as a community enjoy their food to be top notch. In fact, Catering and Food services amount to second biggest contributor after Jewellery industry. People spend a lot of money just to have the perfect taste in their delicacies.
The newest trend in the recent days that has popped is buying cars as wedding gifts. People often tend to buy a small hatchback or a sedan as a lucky gift in weddings. Automobile sales have a sharp rise in sales during this period.
Wearing and ordering branded new clothes for every occasion in the wedding is the new normal. People often wear expensively priced clothes for the wedding. In fact, an average Indian family comprising of 5 people spends across 10-12 Lakhs only on clothes. The apparel industry has grown exponentially since the late 2000s.
There are several other business sectors in Indian Weddings; why is it termed as “GOLD RUSH: INDIA’S WEDDING SEASON“?
Why Indian Weddings Mean “Gold Rush”?
There are 20,000 Indian weddings per year and many of these take place between October and December. A second round of Indian weddings occurs between January and March. These time periods have several auspicious dates according to the Hindu calendar, thus the high number of weddings occurring during these months.
While every Indian wedding is unique in its own way, gold plays a starring role in each event. Hindus believe that gold brings good luck and blessings from the goddess Lakshmi. Both guests and celebrants head to jewelry shops to buy gold jewelry for the happy events.
Across India, the majority of people do not have bank accounts.
Many people use gold the way Americans used to, as a physical way to store (and secure) their wealth. While Indians are less likely to trade gold for money nowadays, they still believe the yellow metal brings security. For a big wedding an Indian bride might put on all of the gold she has accumulated in her lifetime as a display of wealth.
One wedding planner estimates that Indian families spend as much as 25 percent of the wedding budget on gold. Upper middle-class Indian weddings cost about $200,000, so this might mean $50,000 is spent on gold for a single wedding.
How Wedding Season Affects Gold Prices?
The demand for gold is so high that India imports billions of dollars worth of gold each month to keep up with demand, since the country cannot mine enough gold to supply India’s demand for the precious metal.
Some Indians even fly to Dubai − three hours from Mumbai − to purchase physical gold. Dubai’s gold shops report an increase of up to 25 percent in the months leading up to the Indian wedding season. Even counting the duty that Indian customers must pay, if they exceed the allotted amount of gold that can be imported duty-free, shoppers save approximately 6 to 9 percent by shopping in Dubai.
Last year, Indian gold imports grew by 67 percent at 855 tons of gold. Traders are anticipating similar returns this year. While there are doubters, historic trends prove the pattern: Over the last 15 years, gold traders have enjoyed big wins during the wedding season 75 percent of the time. Even during the 2008-2009 period, when the financial crisis was at its worst, gold traders saw profits.
Owning physical gold brings peace of mind and, no matter what happens to the dollar or the market, you have something that is inherently valuable.
Conclusion
The Indian Wedding season attracts a lot of people and a lot of wealth for the country. This is the very reason even Prime Minister Modi urged the citizens to celebrate their weddings within the country.
Weddings have been a very important part of our Indian community and people tend to go all in for just one wedding. It is considered ritualistic and auspicious. A wedding holds a lot of sentimental and religion based values.
Even though the trend of conducting wedding abroad has faded away but if it were to make a comeback; Will the wedding season give similar returns to the economy or will the economy face a loss?
