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Durga Puja is Kolkata’s heartbeat — a ten-day cultural explosion that lights up the city, brings families together, floods markets, and drives commerce across dozens of sectors. Beyond the emotional and artistic spectacle, Durga Puja is a major economic engine for Kolkata.

A huge and growing economic footprint

Multiple studies and recent media estimates show that the Puja economy has become enormous and continues to grow:

• The British Council’s Mapping the Creative Economy around Durga Puja (2019) estimated the value of the creative industries around Durga Puja in West Bengal at ₹32,377 crore (about USD 4.5 billion), and found the festival accounted for roughly 2.58% of the state GDP within that study period. (britishcouncil.in)
• More recent reporting from 2025 by major Indian publications places the festival economy of West Bengal much higher (media estimates vary with methodology), with figures in 2025 ranging from ₹46,000–50,000 crore (stakeholder estimate) to ₹65,000 crore in broader aggregate estimates — with Kolkata contributing an estimated 65–70% of the state total in some reports. These larger recent estimates reflect the festival’s spillovers into retail, travel, hospitality, food & beverage, creative services, and sponsorships. (The Economic Times)

Even conservative academic estimates already show Durga Puja as a multi-thousand-crore economic event; newer aggregated industry/stakeholder figures indicate the seasonal economic activity is far larger as the festival’s commercial ecosystem expands.

Who benefits — the sectors that see a surge

Durga Puja creates demand across a wide supply chain:

• Creative & artisanal industries: clay idol makers, artisans, decorators, lighting and sound contractors, set designers, painters and tailor-made costume makers see their busiest months. Reports emphasised how much of the creative economy is driven by Puja projects and pandal culture.
• Retail & fashion: garments, jewellery, footwear, and festive purchases spike pre-Puja (some retailers record significant portions of annual sales around Puja). Recent media coverage also highlights higher F&B and mall revenues during the festival. (The Times of India)
• Hospitality & travel: hotels, short-stay accommodations, transport operators, and tourism services see large inflows of domestic and diaspora visitors. Kolkata Airport and metro ridership often register festival-period peaks. (The Times of India)
• Local small businesses and daily-wage labour: stall owners, caterers, carpenters and temporary staff find large, often seasonal, employment opportunities tied to pandal construction and visitor services. Media reports and stakeholder estimates show hundreds of thousands of people earning income around Puja.

Puja’s economic influence is multi-dimensional — from high-value corporate sponsorship and mall sales to grassroots earnings for artisans and labourers.

Durga Puja and Kolkata’s infrastructure

Festivals like Durga Puja don’t just spend money — they reveal infrastructure needs and accelerate upgrades:

• Transport and mobility: Metro and airport usage spikes during the Puja window. In 2025 Kolkata Metro recorded roughly 46.5 lakh rides over six Puja days (record single-day ridership also observed), and Kolkata airport passenger counts during the festival were among the highest on record — clear evidence of the city’s increased movement and the corresponding pressure on transport systems. These demand surges justify capacity planning, temporary service augmentation, and longer-term network expansion. (The Times of India)
• Power and utilities: Festival lighting, pandal electrification and extended commercial activity raise peak power demand (reports in 2025 flagged notable increases in peak load and special arrangements by utility companies). This forces utilities and municipal agencies to strengthen contingency planning and sometimes accelerate grid or distribution improvements. The Times of India)
• Urban services & public safety: Large public gatherings require waste management, sanitation, policing, emergency services and crowd-management planning; repeated festival pressures have led city agencies to refine traffic management, public transport timetables, and safety protocols.
• Civic and aesthetic upgrades: In some neighbourhoods, pandal-driven footfall encourages municipal improvements (roads, lighting, beautification) that have lasting local benefits.

While Puja alone doesn’t finance large-scale infrastructure projects, the recurring, concentrated demand exposes bottlenecks and creates political and administrative impetus to invest in transport, power, sanitation and public safety enhancements.

Durga Puja on the world stage

Durga Puja in Kolkata was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021, a recognition that helped raise global awareness of the festival as a living tradition with deep community roots. This UNESCO recognition amplifies cultural tourism potential and strengthens Kolkata’s brand as a destination for cultural travellers. (UNESCO)

UNESCO listing is not only an honour — it is a platform to attract cultural tourists, academic interest, and international partnerships in cultural exchange and creative industries.

Key Takeaways

Durga Puja isn’t just a festival — it is a recurring economic engine that powers commerce, creates jobs, and highlights infrastructure needs in Kolkata. From artisans and caterers to hotels, malls and transport operators, the financial and social ripples run deep. International recognition (UNESCO) and quantified studies give us credible ways to measure and amplify these benefits. If Kolkata’s administrators, the private sector and cultural custodians work together — by formalising artisan support, creating festival-linked tourism products, and using festival data to invest wisely in infrastructure — Durga Puja’s role can evolve from a seasonal revenue bonanza into a year-round catalyst for inclusive urban development.