Tycoon Hosts Big, Fat Indian Wedding Amid Cash Crunch

BANGALORE, India, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Nov, 2016 ) - A controversial Indian mining tycoon has taken over a royal palace and flown in Brazilian dancers at a reported cost of $75 million to celebrate his daughter's wedding on Wednesday,as the country reels from a cash crisis.

Up to 50,000 people are expected at the sprawling Bangalore Palace, a mock Tudor castle in southern India, to celebrate the wedding of Gali Janardhan Reddy's daughter, who was married in a Hindu ceremony earlier in the day.

Local media criticised the extravagance at a time when many Indians are struggling to find the cash to eat after the government's shock move to pull high-value notes out of circulation in a bid to tackle tax evasion.

But one associate defended the lavish expenditure, saying Reddy wanted people to remember the wedding of his only daughter. "It is unfortunate that a daughter's wedding has been made an issue out of envy and rivalry," Manju Swamy told AFP ahead of the party.

"It's an important moment for her parents and they wanted to celebrate the event in a way that befits the family's status in society."