Spiritual tourism surges as improved infrastructure sparks cultural connection, says SBI report

livemint.com:

32 crore tourists visited the state in 2022, with an impressive footfall of 2.21 crore in Ayodhya alone. The total expenditure by these tourists exceeded ₹2 lakh crore.

The state with its numerous holiest places and shrines, such as the Ganga River, Varanasi, the Taj Mahal and now the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya, has experienced a remarkable upswing in domestic tourism Further, it stated that the spending by foreign tourists was around ₹10,500 crore in India, with the UP ranking fifth in terms of foreign visitor numbers. It is estimated that with the completion of Ayodhya Ram Mandir this year and a melange of initiatives taken by the UP government to promote tourism, the total expenditure by tourists in the state is likely to cross ₹4 lakh crore mark by the end of 2024.

This would help the state government earn an additional tax revenue of ₹20,000-25,000 crore due to a huge spurt in number of tourists during FY25. As India is expected to achieve the $5 trillion economy by FY28, the country needs to grow by a CAGR of 8.4 per cent till 2027 (in dollar terms) which translates into 11.0-11.5 per cent nominal GDP growth per annum.

The report further added that Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh to break the $500 billion threshold and contribute 10 per cent to India’s GDP. “UP will be one of the two states which will break the $500 billion mark in 2027 (or FY28) when India achieves the 3rd place in the global economy.