India’s relationship with faith is centuries old — but its obsession with the unseen has quietly built one of the country’s most unregulated shadow industries.

Beneath the glittering temples and glossy astrology apps lies a parallel economy of fear, estimated between ₹30,000 crore and ₹50,000 crore annually.

Unrecorded. Untaxed. Unchecked.

The Shadow Market of Belief

In India, superstition doesn’t just survive — it thrives. From whispered curses to “evil-eye removal” rituals, the black-magic and occult economy isn’t powered by dark arts alone, but by commerce.

While “tantrics” and “babas” are often caricatured as villains, the real profits come from the remedy business — where fear is the product and faith is the price.

Families from Mumbai to Meerut are routinely extorted under the promise of “black-magic removal,” “energy cleansing,” or “astrological healing.”

A “jhaad-phook” (ritual exorcism) can cost anywhere between ₹15,000 and ₹1.5 lakh. WhatsApp “spell-removal” services start as low as ₹5,000 — and thousands of such practitioners openly advertise on social media, often claiming “guaranteed results in 24 hours.”

One click opens the gates to an industry where algorithms have become digital oracles.

The Numbers That Don’t Lie — Even If the Books Do

• One India TV’s RedInk Award-winning investigation pegged the combined “godmen + occult” economy at over ₹40,000 crore.

• Maharashtra alone spends an estimated ₹1,200 crore each year on consultations with godmen or occult “healers.”

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has logged 2,000 + murders in the last decade linked to witchcraft, human sacrifice, or occult rituals.

• Experts suggest that for every reported case, ten go unrecorded — buried in local settlements and village panchayats.

Why This Economy Is Invisible

This is the rare black market that hides in plain sight.
No GST. No invoices. No accountability.

Transactions are disguised as “puja donations,” “energy-cleansing fees,” or “consultation dakshina.”

It’s a perfect mix of devotion and deception — where cash and belief circulate freely, beyond the reach of tax departments or consumer-protection laws.

Sociologists call it a parallel faith economy — one that weaponizes fear while wearing the mask of spirituality.

The New-Age Tantra Economy

Contrary to popular belief, digitization hasn’t dimmed superstition — it’s amplified it.

India’s “tantra economy” has gone online.

More than 1,000 YouTube channels, Telegram groups, and Instagram pages now sell “evil-eye reversal,” “energy alignment,” and “astro-tantra solutions.” Many feature UPI links, client testimonials, and even subscription models.

What was once whispered in secret rooms now trends on reels — monetized, optimized, and legitimized through digital design.

From Fear to Fiction: When Cinema Holds Up the Mirror

The upcoming film Jatadhara, releasing 7 November 2025, dares to look this darkness straight in the eye.
Produced by Zee Studios and directed by Venkat Kalyan, the film turns faith into allegory — exploring how centuries-old rituals evolve into modern exploitation.

Its mythic curse, Dhan Pisach, becomes a metaphor for the greed that hides behind faith — where belief turns into business and fear becomes currency.

In doing so, Jatadhara becomes more than supernatural fiction; it becomes social commentary on India’s billion-dollar obsession with the unseen.

The Cost of Blind Faith

India’s spiritual diversity remains its pride — but when unchecked mysticism becomes enterprise, devotion turns into debt.

For every temple that inspires hope, there’s a self-styled godman profiting off despair.
For every ritual of faith, there’s a transaction of fear.

As long as this ₹50,000-crore empire of superstition remains untaxed and unregulated, the demons won’t need dark magic — they’ll have money.