Republic Day Parade: High Costs, Low Revenue; A Symbol of National Pride, Not Profit

• The Republic Day Parade in New Delhi symbolizes India's military might, cultural diversity, and national pride, watched by millions.
• Initial parade costs were minimal, but expenses significantly increased over decades, reaching ₹70 lakh by 1988.
• Post-1990s, the government stopped disclosing total costs, citing multiple agencies bearing expenses from their own budgets.
• An RTI in 2008 revealed an estimated parade cost of ₹145 crore against ticket revenue of ₹17.63 lakh, highlighting a widening gap.
• By 2015, estimated costs hit ₹320 crore, while ticket revenues remained low, averaging ₹3.4 million annually between 2018-2020, and further dropping during COVID-19.

Why It Matters: The Republic Day Parade is a grand national celebration of pride and tradition, not a revenue-generating event.