Renaming India to Bharat: Estimated Cost of 14,304 Crore Rupees

In recent times, the prospect of India undergoing a transformational name change from "India" to "Bharat" has sparked intense debates among politicians and raised questions about its financial implications. According to a formula devised by South African intellectual property lawyer Darren Oliver, such a rebranding endeavor could come with a hefty price tag of approximately Rs 14,304 crore.

Oliver first introduced his method for estimating the cost of renaming a country in 2018 when Swaziland decided to change its name to Eswatini in a bid to shed colonial remnants. His calculations estimated that the rebranding of the African nation would cost around $60 million. Applying the same approach to India, he factored in the country's revenue as a crucial variable.

The formula hinges on industry standards for large enterprises, where the average marketing budget typically represents about 6 percent of total revenue. Moreover, rebranding exercises can consume up to 10 percent of the overall marketing budget. For the fiscal year 2022-23, India's revenue receipts amounted to a substantial Rs 23.84 lakh crore, which encompasses tax and non-tax revenue.

By Oliver's formula, the cost of India transitioning to Bharat would be (0.006 * 23.84 lakh crore), totaling Rs 14,304 crore. To put this in perspective, this expense almost matches the monthly expenditure incurred by the Indian government on its food security program, which provides sustenance to a staggering 80 crore Indians, as reported by Outlook Business.

While the final decision to pursue this name-changing initiative remains uncertain, notable foreign heads of state have already started acknowledging the change. During the recent G20 Summit events, President Droupadi Murmu extended invitations referring to herself as the "President of Bharat," and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was identified as the leader representing "Bharat." These developments indicate that the debate over India's identity and nomenclature continues to evolve.