Durga Puja generates economy of Rs 32,377 cr: Study
Kolkata: In the first of its kind study in the country, a detailed research conducted by the British Council in collaboration with the state government revealed that a whopping Rs 32,377 crore economy gets generated during Durga Puja in the state.
Being one of the biggest festivals in the country, a study was taken up to assess the economy that generates during Durga Puja following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state's Tourism department and the British Council. The "mapping" has been carried out by the Queen Mary University of London and IIT Kharagpur.
The report that was handed over to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday during a programme at Nabanna Sabhaghar shows that the economy which gets generated during Durga Puja through the creative industry shares around 2.53 percent of the state's GDP.
Banerjee said: "The report comes as a major boost for the state. Durga Puja is the symbol of unity and it has a unique beauty. I would request Unesco to announce it as one of the best festivals in the world."
Barbara Wickham OBE, Director of British Council in India, British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Nick Low and British Council's Director in the East and North East Debanjan Chakraborti were also present in the programme.
It may be mentioned that as many as 34,748 and 2,509 Durga Pujas get organised in the areas under the jurisdiction of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police respectively. At the same time 1,706 Pujas get organised by women run committees.
Banerjee also virtually inaugurated the statue of Purnabrambha Guruchand Thakur at Helencha Trikon Park of Bagda in North 24-Parganas, Sidhu Murmu and Kanu Murmu at Netaji Subhas More at Behrampore in Murshidabad and Adi Shankaracharya at Astral Garden in Howrah.
"The cabinet has given in-principle clearance to the appeal of Onkar Dham to set up a global university here and two projects have been taken near the temples of Loknath Brambhachari besides allotting land at the place of Anukul Thakur," she said.
