Spiritual fervour to generate jobs, tourism interest

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The spiritual fervour unleashed in Ayodhya after the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya could trigger a local economic boom leading to the generation of 1.5-2 lakh jobs in the next four-five years, human capital management platform Betterplace has estimated. The job boom might also encompass the nearby religious towns.

The benefit might be two-fold. One, while the economic boom in Ayodhya has already kicked off, the wave of religious fervour could breathe new life into the economy of pilgrimages such as Varanasi, Puri, Mathura, Tirupati, Amritsar, Vaishno Devi and Shirdi.

The Economic Times has stated in a report that brands peddling a diverse range of products and services are flocking to these spiritual zones. These include heavyweights such as Reliance, ITC, Parle, Dabur, Britannia, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s Adani Milmar, jewellery brands such as Senco and Kalyan.

Pravin Agarwala, cofounder and group chief executive of Betterplace has told the newspaper that there in Ayodhya might be more economic benefit apart from the permanent job creation since the construction boom in the region would create temporary jobs that could even extend to 1 lakh.

The firm has estimated that annually the number of tourists in this tier II town can swell up to 5 crore in the next few years.

“That apart, a possible rise in construction activity in the region – due to expansion by hotel chains, apartment units, healthcare facilities, and other infrastructure development – could lead to addition of another 50,000-100,000 temp jobs in the region in the next few years,” Agarwala said.

The sectors that stand to benefit in a big way include tourism, hotels, hospitality, food and beverages, daily essentials such as grocery, FMCG items and personal care products, healthcare, and banking. These will require a rising number of human resources in both blue-collar and white-collar roles as Ayodhya swiftly turns into a hotspot for religious tourism attracting tourists from home and abroad.

Incidentally, the State Bank of India has stated in a report that the state coffers might annually benefit by an amount ranging between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore following the inauguration of the temple. The country’s biggest mosque is also supposed come up at a spot about 25 km away from the Ram Temple, thereby raising the tourism potential of the entire region manifold.

About 10,000-30,000 jobs will be immediately created since it is expected that 1-2 lakh tourists would be flowing in every day in the area in the next few months.

The investments began flowing in the town before the temple inauguration on January 22 in anticipation of the boom. FMCG majors and food chains have beefed up their presence in the area, which has emerged as a branding zone with the country’s who’s who descending on the small town.

“Ayodhya will become a major pilgrimage centre and will receive millions of people every year. This will provide opportunities for creativity and creating new consumers,” said Sanjiv Mehta, former CEO of HUL.

“We have done town branding of Shirdi and next in line is Mathura. We are strengthening dealer and distributor networks so that our products can be made available in these places quickly,” Angshu Mallick, MD of Adani Wilmer told the newspaper.

Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer, staffing & Randstad Technologies, at HR services firm Randstad India, said that the tourist boom is already accounting for a big consumption of bottled water, snacking products and refreshment drinks.

Another sector that would benefit from the tourist flow and, in turn, could hire new employees is the financial services sector. Sachchidanand Shukla, group chief economist at L&T said that banks are setting up small branches and setting up ATMs.