Assam's live entertainment to generate Rs 700 crore in five years

Live entertainment is set to generate Rs 700 crore in Assam over five years, according to an EY report. The state plans a concert park and marquee events, building on the success of the Post Malone concert which had a Rs 43 crore economic impact.

Live entertainment and the business creation around the buzz is expected to generate Rs 700 crore in Assam over the next five years, with the state targeting around three marquee events a year, according to a research report by EY Parthenon. The state is planning a purpose-built concert park and it is aligning tourism, infrastructure and industry partners in the process. Guwahati is positioning itself as the North-East gateway for large-scale cultural experiences. Other states can replicate the model with policy clarity and public-private partnerships, the report said.

According to EY Parthenon's report commissioned by BookMyShow and Assam Tourism Development Corporation Ltd., India's live entertainment market is growing fast. Concerts are now "scalable, repeatable economic engines." Assam adopted policy frameworks and institutional coordination early. The objective is to position Assam as the North-East's gateway for large-scale cultural events.

Post Malone Concert: A Case Study in Success

The Post Malone concert in Guwahati proves the concept. The event generated an estimated Rs 43 crore total economic impact. A whopping Rs 32 crore was injected directly into Assam's local economy through attendee spending. The government collected Rs 5 crore in direct GST revenue.

For every Rs 100 spent on tickets, attendees spent an additional Rs 899 on hotels, travel, dining and shopping. 53% of the 20,000 attendees came from outside Guwahati, from over 200 cities and towns. 64% stayed more than one night, extending the tourism window.

Boost to Local Economy

"Hotels saw a 30% jump in occupancy. Room tariffs moved to the higher end of annual pricing. Local transport saw a 50%+ increase in ride demand. Restaurants reported 33%+ higher footfall. Local vendors benefited too. 36% of attendees shopped locally, spending Rs 2,934 on average," the report said.

The concert also delivered visibility. It created 5.1 billion in media reach and 185 million in social media reach. This positioned Assam on the global entertainment map.

Assam's Strategic Framework

Assam's framework enabled this. The state introduced a Concert Tourism Policy with Viability Gap Funding up to Rs 5 crore per event. ATDC acts as the nodal agency for single-window approvals.

The state is benchmarking global operating models. It is integrating local culture through Bihu, Bagurumba and Sattriya opening acts. Assam will publish a 6-12 month event calendar. It will build a modular concert park with safety and crowd-flow design. It will certify local vendors and train MSMEs. It will integrate tourism circuits like Kaziranga and Majuli into event ticketing.

The report concluded that treating concerts as economic infrastructure can turn them into predictable growth levers. The key is calendar-led programming, nodal ownership and measurable impact. (ANI)

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