Big fat Indian wedding: At Rs 10 trn, expenses 2nd only to food, grocery

The Indian wedding industry size of approximately Rs 10 lakh crore (USD 130 billion) is second only to food and grocery, with an average Indian spending twice on marriage ceremony than education, a report said.

India sees 80 lakh to 1 crore weddings annually compared to 70-80 lakh in China and 20-25 lakh in the US. "The Indian wedding industry is nearly double the size of the industry in the US (USD 70 billion), albeit smaller than China (USD 170 billion)," brokerage Jefferies said in a report.

Weddings are the second largest consumption category in India. "Weddings, if they were a category, would rank as the second largest retail category only behind food and grocery (USD 681 billion)," it said.

Weddings in India are elaborate and characterised by a range of ceremonies and spending. The industry spurs consumption in categories like jewellery and apparel and indirectly benefits autos and electronics. Despite political efforts to curb them, luxury weddings at exotic locations continu