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Coldplay’s Ahmedabad show boosted economy by Rs 700 crore, Gujarat being dry state was a concern, says BookMyShow CEO: ‘Show’s budget was…’

Ashish Hemrajani, the founder and CEO of BookMyShow, opened up about putting together Coldplay's India tour, and the economic boost that it had.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

The idea to perform at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat was Coldplay’s idea, said Ashish Hemrajani, the founder and CEO of BookMyShow. The band played five shows in India earlier this year, three in Mumbai and two in Ahmedabad. There were concerns about whether the Gujarat capital was infrastructurally capable of hosting such a massive live event, which saw over 2 lakh people in attendance, booked out local hotels, and fuelled an unregulated spike in ticket resales. In an interview with Raj Shamani, the BookMyShow CEO opened up about putting the events together, and the help and support that he received from top government ministers.

“To play in the world’s largest cricket stadium, as a thought, came from the band,” he said, adding that work began a year prior to the actual show. Not only did they have to figure out how audiences will travel to and from the city, they also had to make sure that Gujarat being a dry state wouldn’t hamper their enjoyment. He had to reach out to the Railway Minister to arrange for special trains from Mumbai, which was a tall ask at the time, seeing as the Mahakumbh was also taking place.

Also read – Coldplay creates history with the ‘biggest concert ever’ in Ahmedabad: ‘Totally mind-blowing’

He said that he received an enthusiastic response from Jay Shah, who happily agreed to loan out the Narendra Modi Stadium. “So, I had a partner in crime, and we went back to the band and said that it’s happening,” he said, adding that the Ahmedabad shows contributed Rs 700 crore to the Gujarat economy. “Ahmedabad’s infrastructure has really improved… But getting into the city, there aren’t enough flights. And around 75% of the people were coming from out of Gujarat. It was mathematically impossible to transport as many people into the city,” he said, adding that special support was necessary from the Indian Railways.

He also addressed the potential losses from food and beverages. “Gujarat has prohibition, so will people even come? Will people enjoy themselves? But it became the world’s largest concert. Everybody came safely, they left safely. They didn’t miss alcohol… Employment, hotel, airlines, food, travel, merchandise, spends in the city, we calculated what the average spend per-person in Ahmedabad was. The GST impact was Rs 72 crore, the overall impact was around Rs 700 crore, the direct impact was around Rs 250 crore,” he said, adding that the Ahmedabad show probably cost between Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore, minus artiste fees.

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