Report pegs Prayagraj Maha Kumbh economic activity at Rs 2.8 lakh crore

The recently concluded Maha Kumbh Mela was an economic juggernaut which generated economic activity of Rs 2.8 lakh crore, a report said on Tuesday. The convergence of millions of people in UP's Prayagraj led to huge economic activity, including some direct spends, some indirect and also induced ones, as per the report by Dun and Bradstreet.

The company said it has used a data-driven approach, which included integrating desk research with proprietary economic modeling techniques to arrive at the estimates. Some estimates released earlier had pegged the overall economic activity at Rs 2 lakh crore.

"... (the) 2025 edition (of Kumbh is) estimated to have facilitated Rs 2.8 lakh crore in economic output," the report said.


Direct activity, which includes expenditures incurred by attendees, including transportation, accommodation, food, tourism services, and local commerce, has been pegged at Rs 90,000 crore, it said.

The indirect impact, which comes from the supply chain's response to the increased demand in the directly impacted sectors like higher demand for linens as hotel bookings go up, has been pegged at Rs 80,000 crore.

The 'induced' impact of the Kumbh is the higher economic activity courtesy heightened spends in the local economies, with aspects like workers reinvesting in housing, education, healthcare, and daily essentials, the company said, pegging this at Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

From an expenditure categorization perspective, Rs 2.3 lakh crore has been labeled as consumption expenditure, while the remaining Rs 50,000 crore is the capital expenditure on infrastructure creation, it said.

Transportation alone contributed half of the consumption expenditure, and was pegged at Rs 37,000 crore, of which the railways alone seem to have earned Rs 17,700 crore, it said.

The pilgrims spent Rs 10,000 crore on recreation activities like helicopter joyrides, hot air balloon rides, ATV rides and adventure sports, amusement park entries, yoga sessions, and guided city tours, it said.

About 2 lakh vendors engaged in retail trade made Rs 7,000 crore of activity, while food services generated Rs 6,500 crore, it said.

Tea stall owners alone made up to Rs 30,000 a day, while the puri stall owners clocked an average of Rs 1,500 a day over the Kumbh period.