Economists at Bank of Baroda estimate that the Cricket World Cup hosted by India will bring in as much as 220 billion rupees ($2.6 billion) or Rs 18,000 to 22,000 crore to the economy.
The 13th edition of the tournament began in India on Thursday with 48 one-day international matches scheduled across a two month period.
India last hosted the world cup in 2011, when 1.2 million people attended matches.
Overall contribution
The report said that the impact on gross value added is estimated to be around Rs 7,000 to 8,000 crore.
Most of this will be concentrated in the consumption sector, particularly services consumption, with the hospitality sector benefiting the most.
Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda said, “The World Cup has the potential to boost India’s GDP, more so because it coincides with the festive season.”
Major sectors to be benefited
“Consumption, particularly services consumption, is likely to receive the maximum boost. Hospitality and tourism sectors are likely to benefit the most.”
The tournament is expected to draw large numbers of visiting fans domestically and internationally.
Played across 10 cities it will be the most beneficial to the travel as well as hospitality sectors, wrote economists Jahnavi Prabhakar and Aditi Gupta.
Festive season contribution
The event also coincides with the three-month festive season that started in September.
This will be especially beneficial for the retail sector as many people will make “sentimental purchases of merchandise.”
Viewership contribution
The economists expect total Indian viewership both on television and streaming platforms, to be far larger than the 552 million seen in 2019, the previous edition of the tournament.
This could generate 105 billion rupees to 120 billion rupees in TV rights and sponsorship revenue “on a conservative basis.”
Inflation: Why?
However, the World Cup may also lead to inflation.
Airline tickets, hotel rentals have surged for the period, and service charges in the informal sector in the 10 host cities could show substantial increases on top of the festive-season impact.
Ahmedabad, which will host a game between rivals India and Pakistan on Oct. 14, has seen a 200% increase in room reservations compared to August, said Rajesh Magow, group chief executive at MakeMyTrip.
Ticket spending
Ticket sales will be an important item of spending.
Based on the stadium capacity and charges for each ticket, BoB expects the total ticket sales to the tune of Rs 1,600-2,200 crore.
“This is based on the assumption of varied attendance for each match with all India games registering 100 per cent attendance,” it added.
Overall, inflation may rise between 0.15%-0.25% for October and November.
Adjacent spending
This is because airline tickets and hotel rentals have surged for the period, and service charges in the informal sector in the 10 host cities could show substantial increases on top of the festive-season impact.
However, this would be restricted to these ten cities for the period of October and November only.
The tournament will also contribute to government coffers through increased tax collections on ticket sales, goods and services taxes on hotels, restaurants and food delivery, giving the country additional fiscal space, the economists added.
