Hyderabad Ganesha Puja: Big on devotion, bigger on moolah
A helicopter hovering over a Ganesha idol is not an everyday sight, not even in a city embarking on its biggest festival. On September 24, as the immersion procession wound its way towards Hussainsagar, a six-seater Airbus H125 showered flower petals on the idol from above. It was a fleeting spectacle, but one that required considerable logistical security and expense. And it was just a small part of the elaborate machinery that keeps Hyderabad’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations going.
Behind the towering idols, elaborate pandals and processions that go on late into the night lies an economy of its own. Idol makers, decorators, sound engineers, transporters, crane companies, caterers and dozens of workers find business at the festival while organizers collect donations and sponsorships to pay for the spectacle.
The flower shower was organized by the Hanuman Youth Association, which installed an idol in Bowrampet.
“I was contacted by an airline agent about a parking space for a helicopter. It was supposed to arrive from Bengaluru, shower petals on the next day and fly out on the third. Since Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Begumpet Airport are highly charged, they looked at my aerofarm as a parking space,” says PR Singh, owner of Singh Aerofarm in Sangareddy and a former chief of the Indian Air Force.
Mr. Singh estimates that the operation, including related arrangements, may have cost the organizers around ₹20 crore.
Number crunching
Ganesh Chaturthi in Hyderabad does not have a single ledger. The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi (BGUS) estimates that the festival generates ₹6,000 to ₹7,000 crore in economic activity in the city.
BGUS General Secretary R. Shashidhar says the festival provides direct employment to around two lakh families and indirectly another 4.5 lakh people. Other estimates put the economic activity at up to ₹10,000 crore when the months of preparations are factored in.
Read |Immersion procession of Khairatabad Ganesh idol in Hyderabad goes off without a hitch
Money flows from organizers to idol makers, tent operators, decorators, lighting suppliers, transporters, sound providers, bands, flower sellers, caterers and other workers. Ranging from a few thousand rupees to several crores, the expenditure begins long before the idol reaches the mandap.
According to the Telangana Police, around 1.24 lakh Ganesha idols were registered on the state Ganesh portal this year. This figure includes the whole of Telangana, not just Hyderabad. Director General of Police CV Anand says the actual number across the state could range from 3.5 to 4 lakh if idols installed in houses, flats and other private spaces are included.
Expenses vary according to the scale of the celebration. A small neighborhood mandap may spend relatively little on the idol, structure and decorations, while a large one may incur costs in the order of several lakhs on the pandal, lighting, flowers, manpower and other facilities.
In Balapur, one of Hyderabad’s most famous Ganesh celebrations, the committee spent around ₹98 crore on the festival last year, says Kalyan Niranjan Reddy, president of the Balapur Ganesh Utsava Samithi. The amount covered the idol, workers, flowers, decorations and pandal arrangements. The committee is yet to finalize this year’s financial statements.
Mr. Reddy says that around ₹ 30 to ₹ 40 lakh was raised through chanda (contributions). The rest came from other donations, advertising and sponsorships. The parade contributes to these expenses and creates an additional stream of business for carriers, sound operators and other service providers.
In Balapur, the 21-foot idol needed a heavy vehicle, says Kalyan Reddy. The vehicle, driver and diesel together cost around ₹40,000.
Ganesha idols are carried in a procession for immersion in Hussainsagar, Hyderabad on September 26. Photo credit: RAMAKRISHNA G.
The expenses generate business for transporters, vehicle owners, drivers and workers involved in loading and securing the idol. Cranes and other equipment are also needed at the main immersion points to lower the idols into the water.
Another account is often heard before it is seen. For a small mandap, a basic speaker setup can cost around ₹5,000 to ₹6,000, while a DJ setup can cost around ₹15,000 for eight hours, says Hyderabad-based sound system operator Mohammed Saber Hussain.
“DJs and sound engineers usually have an eight-hour booking window because that’s considered the industry standard,” he explains. The actual amount depends on the size of the system, the equipment rented and the duration.
Larger packages combining loudspeakers, beam structures, lighting and DJ equipment can cost up to ₹75,000. Hussain says he also received a booking worth ₹2,000 during this year’s festival season. Packages vary depending on the equipment rented, with generator and diesel costs borne by the customer.
Traditional performers will also find business during the festival. Marfa bands charged around ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 to perform this year, with popular immersion day sets fetching ₹50,000 to ₹60,000.
Unlike many Hyderabadi parades, the Balapur Ganesh Utsava Samithi does not hire a DJ. It follows the tradition of playing bhajans on immersion day since the 1980s. Still, his total cost of the festival last year was around ₹98 crore, reflecting the cumulative cost of the many arrangements that are part of the celebrations.
Prasadam adds another layer of expenses that includes ingredients, cooking, packaging, transportation and distribution, says Shashidhar. At a large mandap, food distributed to thousands of devotees can run up a substantial bill in a few days, even if the cost per person is modest.
Besides the obvious
The expenses extend beyond the organizers to the government, which provides electricity and deploys personnel and equipment for the dive.
This year, Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGSPDCL) supplied free electricity to 51,207 registered Ganesha idols and pandals in its 21 circles, with a sanctioned connected load of 1.12 lakh kW.
The government’s estimated expenditure this year was ₹17.8 crore, up from ₹15.59 crore in 2025–26, when 47,649 pandals were given free power.
Public expenditure also covers the staff and infrastructure needed to manage the celebrations. Power company personnel continuously monitored feeders, transformers, lighting and emergency equipment, especially at the main submergence sites.
Anand says more than 25,000 police personnel have been deployed in Hyderabad to ensure immersion during the 10-day festival period. Cranes, barricades, traffic control, sanitation, lighting, emergency services and waste collection add to logistical costs.
Heavy cranes placed on the banks of Hussainsagar for idol immersion. | Photo credit: NAGARA GOPAL
The extent of the dipping operation is evident from the cranes deployed along the main routes.
Syed Faraz and Syed Ausaf, owners of Super Cranes, a company involved in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) dipping operations, say 10 cranes have been deployed at NTR Marg and 12 at People’s Plaza. Their capacities varied according to the size and weight of the idols.
GHMC norms require cranes with a minimum lifting capacity of 50 tonnes, they point out. “The Khairatabad Ganesh idol required a much larger machine for immersion: a SANY SAC 3000 crane with a lifting capacity of 300 to 350 tonnes, an 80-metre main boom and 100 tonnes of counterweight,” says Faraz.
Transporting the crane requires at least three 40-foot trailers accompanied by a signal flag vehicle to guide the convoy through narrow roads and sharp turns. The six-axle crane has 12 tires and may require traffic control before reaching the submersible, the owners say. “Moving such a machine to a dive site is a logistical operation in itself.”
Each crane requires five skilled workers and a qualified rigger for safe lifting operations, with one supervisor deployed for every five cranes. At the immersion sites, workers will be given orange jerseys and ID cards.
Unlike private reservations by Ganesh Commission, submersible crane operations are awarded through GHMC tendering process. The contract is for 12 days with 12-hour shifts during the first eight days and 24-hour shifts thereafter.
Operators inspect sites six to seven days prior to deployment, assessing idol weight and height, lift radius and other conditions to determine required crane capacity and business terms.
Super Cranes were carrying out the work of GHMC in collaboration with other cranes deployed at various immersion points.
Laddu auction and local causes
If a festival has a spending economy, it also has a transaction economy, which can be difficult to explain in ordinary terms.
Balapur Ganesh laddu fetched 39 lakhs in auction. Sama Praneeth Reddy, a resident of Hayatnagar in Rangareddy district, won the bid. | Photo credit: RAMAKRISHNA G.
Balapur’s famous 21kg Ganesh laddu fetched a record ₹39 crore at auction this year. Urban Realty Group’s Sama Praneeth Reddy won the bid, surpassing last year’s ₹35 crore. Nine participants applied for the auction, including representatives of five companies, with one interested party participating from London.
At Keerthi Richmond Villas in Bandlaguda Jagir, a 5kg Ganesh laddu fetched ₹1.01 billion this year, up from ₹2.31 billion last year. Although it weighed a quarter less than Balapur’s laddu, it fetched more than double its auction price. Such offerings illustrate how the value attached to laddu can far exceed its production costs.
In both cases, auction proceeds are separate from festival expenses and generally go to community development, welfare or other local causes.
There is no price tag on the festival itself. But almost every part of building it—from installing the idol to launching it into the lake—costs something. Together, this spending, along with the businesses, jobs and transactions that the festival generates, forms an economy that runs alongside the celebrations.