Durga Puja OOH advertising is a major festive-season opportunity in West Bengal, with one industry estimate putting spending across the state at ₹800 crore to ₹1,000 crore over the ten days of the festival. An Exchange4media analysis published on October 1, 2026 asks whether this pandal and street-level advertising is being captured in conventional AdEx figures.
Per the report, three 2025 estimates of India’s total out-of-home (OOH) market differ widely: ₹4,835 crore from PMAR, ₹4,724 crore from Dentsu-e4m and ₹6,690 crore from FICCI-EY. Industry executives quoted in the article argue that festive pandal sponsorships and hyper-local hoardings are a large part of what those national numbers struggle to measure.
How Big Is the Durga Puja OOH Economy in West Bengal?
Rahul Biswas, Director at Arun Sign Service Pvt. Ltd., estimated the festival OOH economy at ₹800 crore to ₹1,000 crore across West Bengal over ten days. For context, that range is a notable fraction of the national OOH market figures cited above.
The market has also been volatile. Spending fell 25–35% in 2024 following the RG Kar tragedy, and the report cites estimated growth of 18–25% as a recovery in 2025.
Why Is Durga Puja Advertising Hard to Measure?
Yuvrraj Agarwaal, Chief Strategy Officer at Laqshya Media, put it this way: “It is not missing from the market. It is missing from the measurement.” The point is that sponsored pandals, gateways and neighbourhood hoardings are often booked locally, outside the planned media buys that national estimates are built on.
The article also quotes Rohan Sengupta, Manager, Product Marketing at Times OOH, and Megha Beriwala, Director of Marketing at Macaw Paints, as industry voices on brand activity during the festival.
Industry Reaction and Expert Commentary
Smaller brands are also investing. Suta, the apparel brand co-founded by Sujata Biswas and Taniya Biswas, raised its festive OOH spend from ₹3–4 lakh the previous year to ₹5–6 lakh in 2025. OOH represents roughly 3% of the brand’s annual marketing spend, and its festival spending rose by about 50% year on year.
These figures show that Durga Puja OOH is not only a preserve of large advertisers; emerging direct-to-consumer brands treat it as a high-footfall moment to reach shoppers in Kolkata and other Bengal cities.
What Happens Next?
Regulation could shape how pandal advertising is planned. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has introduced permission requirements for temporary structures, including a 22-foot height limit for bamboo frameworks, which may affect the size and design of festival hoardings and gateways.
Measurement is the other open question. If agencies and industry bodies find a way to capture festival sponsorships in their market estimates, India’s OOH figures could be revised upward in future editions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is spent on Durga Puja OOH advertising?
One estimate cited by Exchange4media from Rahul Biswas of Arun Sign Service puts it at ₹800 crore to ₹1,000 crore across West Bengal over ten days. There is no single audited figure.
Why is it called a hidden economy?
Much of the advertising is locally booked sponsorship of pandals and neighbourhood sites, which national market estimates may not fully capture. Laqshya Media’s Yuvrraj Agarwaal said it is missing from the measurement, not from the market.
What new rule affects pandal advertising?
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation now requires permission for temporary structures and has set a 22-foot height limit for bamboo frameworks.
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