Blinkit, the fast-commerce company, is retailing 100 ml packs of ‘Sangam Jal’ claimed to be sourced from the holy confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and legendary Saraswati at Rs 69 per pack. The pricing has raised eyebrows as well as amusement among consumers, with skepticism over the genuineness of the water being sourced from Prayagraj. Commercialization of religious goods is not novel, but the pricing and sourcing practices have led to questions about faith-based business models.
Namanbir Singh, SHIELD-INDIA’s founder, expressed his skepticism regarding the legitimacy of the product in a LinkedIn post, writing, “You can be a trillionaire in India if you can build a business on faith.”
Gathering Sangam water is practically free since anyone who goes to the location can pick it up for free. To produce the bottled ‘Sangam Jal’, businesses tend to introduce a drop of actual Sangam water into plain bottled water and sell the whole lot as ‘Sangam Jal’. “This dilution ratio, common for Ganga Jal, appears to dominate here. Namanbir further said, “Since it’s 99% regular water, the cost of production should be the same as the price of a regular bottle of drinking water.”
For perspective, 1-litre Bisleri is Rs 20, while Blinkit‘s 100 ml of Sangam Jal is Rs 69. That is Rs 990 per litre, a whopping 4,850% more expensive than regular bottled water. And the product does not show whether it is safe for consumption, and one wonders about quality control.
Commerce of Faith
The returns on selling as few as 1 lakh of this commodity are a whopping almost Rs 1 crore, giving us a peek into the money-spinning capabilities of commerce of the faith. As one facetious viral posting wisecracks sarcastically, “It’s a pure ’15 din me paise double scheme,” taking a tongue-in-cheek swipe at the get-rich-quick scheme. The judgment is unambiguous: in India, religion is not merely sacred, it’s a money-spinner.
