India to Bharat: Changing the name of a country comes at what cost

Speculations are rife that the Narendra Modi-led government might change the name of India to 'Bharat' in a special Parliament session later this month. However, changing the name of a country is expensive, some models suggest.

Using a model that South Africa-based intellectual property lawyer and blogger Darren Olivier came up with, news outlet Outlook pegged the number for India at upwards of Rs 14,000 crore. ET Online has not verified this figure independently.

Olivier used this model back in 2018 when Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini. His model compares the renaming of a nation to rebranding exercises at large corporations. As per the model, the average marketing cost of a large enterprise is about 6 per cent of its total revenue, while the rebranding cost could be as much as 10 per cent of the overall marketing budget.


The total revenue receipts of India were at Rs 23.84 lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. Thus, according to Olivier's model, India may have to spend as much as Rs 14,034 crore, which is more than what the Centre spends every month on its food security programme, the report added.

Certain Indian leaders too have recognised the weight of the 'brand value' a nation's name carries.

"While there is no constitutional objection to calling India “Bharat”, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India”, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries," senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday.

"We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world," he said.

Colonial hangover

India is next in line following multiple countries changing their names to shed some weight off their colonial legacies. For example, Sri Lanka changed its name from Ceylon in 2011 and Thailand changed its name from Siam.

A row erupted on Tuesday after Rashtrapati Bhawan reportedly sent out invites for a G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of 'President of Bharat' instead of the usual 'President of India'. Some reports suggest come September 18, the Centre will make the name switch official.

A war of words soon ensued between the opposition parties and the BJP with multiple leaders of the ruling party, including Assam's chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, soon coming out in support of renaming the country 'Bharat'.

"Bharat is as old as the sun and the moon. As long as the sun and the moon are in existence, Bharat will continue be in existence… Every state and its people want that the country be know as Bharat," he claimed while talking to reporters.

The Congress accused the government of being "scared" of the INDIA bloc and diverting from issues such as price rise and "rising joblessness". "So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on Sept 9th in the name of 'President of Bharat' instead of the usual 'President of India'," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.