Maha Kumbh 2025 estimated to have channelised Rs 1.1 lakh crore-1.6 lakh crore spending: Citi

Are you wondering about consumer spending and business-related trends from the recently concluded Maha Kumbh 2025 festival? The 45-day-long grand fair—a pilgrimage held four times over every 12 years—drew crores of devotees to Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj region.

Organised between January 13 and February 26, the 2025 edition of the Kumbh Mela successfully made its mark as the world’s largest gathering, with millions of pilgrims taking a dip in Triveni Sangam, a confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers considered sacred in Hinduism.

The event is estimated to channelise Rs 1.1 lakh crore-1.6 lakh crore of spending, and Rs 15,000 crore each of merchant revenues and accommodation revenues into bank deposits, according to a special report by foreign brokerage Citi titled ‘Maha Kumbh: Fusion of Faith & Finance’.

Additionally, the festival recorded footfall of more than 65 crore attendees, confirming its transformative impact, according to the brokerage.

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Here are a few key points highlighted in the report:

• Several banks - PSU and private - also deployed their deposit and credit-related services to book profits from new customers
• Major PSUs, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank have a higher share of deposits from the state relative to the banking system's average
• HDFC Bank, largest lender in the private banking sector, was more active than ICICI Bank. While Utkarsh Small Finance Bank recorded the highest share compared to other smaller private banks.
• ICICI Bank has set up a branch with mobile, ATM special edition ATM/debit cards.
• HDFC Bank's ‘Bank on Wheels’ vans at the newly set up branch.
• SBI deployed mobile ATMs and temporary kiosks.
• Axis Bank provided a mobile ATM van and cloth bag vending machine
• BoB is promoting digital payments with two branches, onsite and mobile ATMs, coin vending machine, and Aditi, a GenAI-powered virtual Relationship Manager (RM) for audio, video, and chat support, available 24/7 and in multiple languages.