Destination weddings — getting married at a lavish venue outside the country a la Deepika and Ranveer — was the trend for wealthy Indian families before the pandemic. Even after the pandemic, the trend returned, though with some changes. Now, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to spend their money in India during the wedding season, and not spend it abroad.
On his latest Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi said, “The wedding season [in India] has commenced now. Some trade organisations estimate that there could be a business of around Rs 5 lakh crore (INR 5 trillion or USD 58.8 billion) during this wedding season. While shopping for weddings, all of you should give importance to products made in India only.”
The prime minister particularly urged “big families” to hold such celebrations on Indian soil, so that the country’s money would not leave its shores.
According to an October 2023 report by ET Travel World, ultra high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs) in India mainly pick locations in Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bengaluru/Kochi, and Goa within India; and locations in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, and Italy outside India.
Incidentally, Bollywood superstars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh had their wedding a few years ago at the exclusive Villa del Balbianello in Lake Como, Italy.
Yesterday, on the radio programme, where he explores various social topics, Modi said, “…Since the topic of marriage has come up, one thing has been troubling me off and on for a long time… and if I don’t open up my heart’s pain to my family members, who else do I do it with? Just ponder… these days, a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings. Is this at all necessary?”
He stressed that if people celebrated the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, the country’s money would remain in the country. The people of the country would get an opportunity to render some services at such weddings, he pointed out.
“Even poor people will tell their children about your wedding. Can you expand this mission of ‘Vocal for Local’? Why don’t we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country?” said Modi. “It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organise such events, systems will also develop. This is a topic related to very big families. I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those big families.”
—With inputs from CtoI Desk
