Narendra Modi on Sunday in his monthly radio talk that he emphasised being ''Vocal For Local,'' saying that he's troubled with wealthy Indian families holding weddings abroad and its economic impact on the wedding sector.
Prime Minister Modi claimed that if affluent individuals had not chosen to have their weddings abroad, the Indian wedding industry could have generated INR five trillion.
Foreign Wedding Destinations Are Today's Status Symbol: Industry Expert
Sputnik India spoke with Praveen Khandelwal, the general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), who said the Prime Minister has correctly and timely raised the concerns.
"This is a serious concern. Rich people are now choosing foreign land[s] as a destination wedding as it is a status symbol," Khandelwal said.
Marriage ceremonies in India are an extravaganza affair that generates employment for wedding planners, hotels, jewellers, caterers, photographers, vendors, designers, and florists, supporting a sizeable chunk of workers.
A newly wed Indian couple poses for photographs during a mass marriage ceremony for eight couples in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 8, 2019.
© AP Photo / Altaf Qadri
Big Fat Indian Wedding
Indian weddings are renowned for their opulent week-long celebrations, featuring intricate arrangements of festivities, including indulgent cocktails, feasts, enchanting tourist destinations, and lavish gifts.
According to experts, on average, the lower class typically spends around Rs 1-2 million (approximately $14,600-$29,000), while the middle class spends about Rs 5 million ($60,000). On the other hand, the upper class has a wide spending range, with expenditures varying from Rs 10 million to 100 million ($119,956-$1.2 million).
About 500 people are invited to a single wedding (sometimes this goes up to 2000).
Indians spend about $130 billion annually on weddings, making the industry the fourth-largest sector in the country, just behind energy, banking, and insurance. Urban Indian per capita wedding spending is 1.5 times higher than the USA.
In this Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, file photo, Indian brides sit together for a group photograph during a mass wedding in Surat, India.
© AP Photo / Ajit Solanki
If just 10 percent of these weddings move out of India, it would have a profound impact on both the employment of these individuals and the overall economy.
"These are all upper-class people who can fly outside the country along with 150 guests (at least) and have a wedding there. They all will be staying in five-star hotels for two or three days," Karan Chachra, Director of Imperial Flavours Kitchen, told Sputnik India.
Chachra, a renowned wedding planner who owns a luxurious farmhouse in Delhi and specialises in hosting high-end weddings, expressed his concerns about the growing trend of weddings abroad among his clients, emphasising its impact on his business.
Explaining how it may impact a wedding planner individually, he said, "Although wedding venues are booked, if some trend starts where all rich people choose to spend on a foreign destination weddings, it is doing affect our business because then we will get clients who want us to negotiate."
Turkiye has recently announced that it has become one of the top choice destinations for weddings among Indian couples.