Slowdown hits Durga Puja budget, sponsorships for large pandals down 20-50%

Smaller clubs forced to curtail budgets, scale down celebrations

The ongoing slowdown has cast its shadow on this year’s Durga Puja – the biggest annual festivity in West Bengal - as sponsorship for most of the larger puja committees is down between 20-50 per cent while the smaller clubs are forced to curtail their budget and scale down the celebration.

This is despite the optimism around the tax sops announced by the Centre for corporate India recently.

“As of now, we haven’t seen any improvement in the muted response from sponsors even after the Centre announced several tax benefits and other measures to boost the economy,” Sajal Ghosh, general secretary of