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Economic Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
What drives the unstoppable growth of India's wedding economy?
All that jazz There was a time when marriages in an Indian household were arranged through references. This changed in the 1970s-80s when newspaper matrimonial ads became the primary medium for finding alliances. The 21st c. brought a bigger shift with the rise of dating websites, soon overtaken by mobile a significant portion of India's 600 mn unmarried individuals can be found on these platforms. Together, they form the foundation of the massive marriage industry, one that's proven resistant to both recession and inflation. Our demographic dividend is a major concern when it comes to jobs. But when it comes to matrimony, there are few constraints. An estimated 11-12 mn weddings take place each year, involving 22-24 mn individuals. With a potential pool of 600 mn unmarried people, the wedding economy is vast, and growing. Spending on weddings has surged across all income levels, with even those at the bottom of the pyramid trying to emulate the lavishness of the top. Thorstein Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption - 'keeping up with the Joneses', or, perhaps, more suitably, 'with the Agarwals' - has become the norm. The journey typically begins with dating platforms, where the search for a partner can start for as little as ₹1,000. From there, it extends to matrimonial websites and elite sweetheart brokers who offer more curated matchmaking services, often including background checks. Together, these services cater to a wide spectrum of users. Dating platforms alone are estimated to have a turnover of around ₹8,000 cr, with 80-90 mn persons actively using has reported that the wedding market is the second-largest retail segment in India, second only to food. Weddings are expensive affairs, typically involving spending on venues, catering, wedding planners, event managers, decorators, make-up artists and DJs - especially for the ubiquitous sangeet, a tradition now gaining popularity even in southern and eastern states. These celebrations often stretch over several days, with significant outlays not just by the bride's and groom's families, but also by guests - on clothing, jewellery and gifts. Destination weddings, which have grown increasingly common, add travel costs for 100-200 guests to the overall spend. At the lower end, a wedding may cost ₹3-5 lakh, with the average hovering around ₹10-12 lakh across India's roughly 10 mn marriages each year. At the upper end, lavish weddings can cost ₹3-5 cr or more, depending on the scale and the 'statement' the hosts wish to make. As a result, the Indian wedding industry is valued at ₹11-12 lakh cr. India Brand Equity Foundation's estimate: ₹10.8 lakh cr ($130 bn). Beyond visible expenses, there's also the oft-unspoken cost of 'gifting' - the usual euphemism for dowry - which can include property, luxury vehicles, jewellery and furniture. The scale and spread of wedding-related spending have a significant multiplier effect across several sectors, particularly services. For instance, a single wedding can employ 100-200 people on a gig basis, providing a temporary, but vital, boost to the informal does economics explain this process? Nobel Prize-winning economists Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley developed a matching algorithm that underpins much of the logic behind modern dating platforms. These platforms have adapted and scaled such algorithms to bring potential partners together efficiently. Once a match is made, behavioural economics kicks in. The bandwagon effect prompts couples to emulate popular wedding trends, leading to a demonstration effect - where weddings evolve into multi-day spectacles to uphold social appearances. As the number of affluent individuals in India has grown, so has the snob value attached to weddings. This has fuelled demand for differentiators such as destination weddings, themed ceremonies and even celebrity appearances, each adding a premium to the overall wedding industry is notably recession-proof and is projected to grow to ₹18-20 lakh cr over the next five years. While Covid temporarily disrupted the trend - with online weddings becoming a brief norm - those days are behind us. Much like companies calling employees back to office, society, too, has returned to full-scale, in-person celebrations. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Tech company CEO shown the door is back with AI bang In the NSE vs. BSE battle, the real winner will be someone else Arrest of Pak spies signal the changing face of grey zone warfare Can inclusive growth dividend transform economic security in India? 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Wall Street Journal
16-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
‘Capitalism and Its Critics' Review: Enemies of the Market Mindset
If capitalism had been overthrown as quickly as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had at first expected, John Cassidy's sprawling 'Capitalism and Its Critics' would have been shorter and easier to write, if not to sell. But, resilient, protean, abused and occasionally bailed-out, capitalism is still with us, and so are its critics, the latest in a line so long that Mr. Cassidy, who was setting out to tell capitalism's story (or much of it) through their eyes, was spoiled for choice. Capitalism always provides consumers, and readers, with plenty of what they are looking for. Mr. Cassidy, a writer for the New Yorker, chose wisely and widely, selecting reformers as well as revolutionaries, the renowned and the not so well-known, among them 'lesser-known figures who made interesting contributions.' The last might include Anna Wheeler (ca. 1780-1848), an upper-crust Anglo-Irishwoman who took on the economic system and the oppression of her sex. She was, wrote Benjamin Disraeli, 'very clever but awfully revolutionary.' Her grandson became the viceroy of British India. Some were picked because they captured 'an entire epoch.' Thus Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929), known for coining the term 'conspicuous consumption' in 1899, is paired with the Gilded Age of Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and the rest. The fate of the Russian economist Nikolai Kondratiev (1892-1938), however, neatly symbolizes the arrival of an iron age. A supporter of the successful policy under which the struggling young Soviet state allowed a partial return to a market economy, he queried both the wisdom of collectivization and the inevitability of capitalism's collapse (he was duly imprisoned and shot). Despite the book's length, its author does not claim that it is a comprehensive account. It is 'a history,' not 'the history,' and it comes with a slant. Mr. Cassidy is on the left, as are the majority of those he has recruited to help tell capitalism's tale. This wouldn't be the book I would recommend for someone searching for a single introductory account of capitalism's ascendance and the qualities that have ensured its survival. But for those who want to dig more deeply, regardless of their ideological orientation, 'Capitalism and Its Critics' offers an intriguing, if skewed, perspective, and benefits from a skillful explanation of complex ideas in clear, often lively prose.
