India has created history by becoming just the fourth country in the world to have soft-landed on the moon — the Chandrayaan-3 lander gently glided itself on the moon’s surface earlier today. India also became the first country to have landed on the moon’s unexplored south pole. But what’s even more impressive is how cost-effective the Chandrayaan-3 mission really was — the mission cost just Rs. 615 crore, of which Rs. 250 crore was for the propulsion to reach the moon, and Rs. 345 crore was towards launch expenses. Here’s how Chandrayaan-3’s cost compares to the following things:
1. 6 hours of Reliance’s revenue
Reliance has an annual revenue of Rs. 8.91 lakh crore, so Chandrayaan’s cost of Rs. 615 crore is the revenue Reliance makes every 6 hours.
2. 0.14% of Gautam Adani’s net worth
Gautam Adani has had a difficult year which saw the stocks of many of his companies fall in value. But Adani still has a net worth of Rs 4.3 lakh crore, enough to fund 700 Chandrayaan missions.
3. 2% of the funding raised by Dunzo
Indian startup Dunzo is currently staring down the barrel with layoffs, delayed salaries and shutdown of many of its stores. Dunzo has raised $457 million so far. Chandrayaan-3 cost just $10 million, so Dunzo’s funding amount could’ve potentially funded 50 Chandrayaan-3 missions.
4. 1/8 of Swiggy’s annual loss
Swiggy is India’s highest loss-making startup, having registered a loss of Rs. 4,700 crore in FY23. This was 8 times more than the cost of Chandrayaan-3.
5. 1/6th the earnings of Caratlane founder
Caratlane founder Mithun Sacheti recently made over Rs. 4,000 crore after selling his stake in the company to Titan. The Chandrayaan-3 mission cost just 1/6th of this amount.
6. Less than half the budget of Russia’s failed Luna mission
Days before Chandrayaan-3 landed, Russia’s moon mission had failed, and crashed into the moon. The failed Luna mission cost Rs. 1,600 crore, which was more than twice the cost of Chandrayaan-3.
7. Cheaper than the budget of Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer, the movie based on US’s atomic bomb test, cost Rs. 820 crore to make. India’s Chandrayaan-3 managed to reach the moon in less than that amount.
8. Nearly the same as Delhi govt’s ad budget
The Delhi government has set aside Rs. 557 crore towards advertising in FY23-24. Chandrayaan-3 cost Rs. 615 crore, which is roughly the same as what the Delhi government spends on ads in a year.
9. 6 times the salary of India’s highest-paid CEO
Hero Motocorp’s Pawan Munjal was India’s highest-paid CEO with a salary of Rs. 99.95 crore in FY23, not including his stocks and other grants. Chandrayaan-3 cost just six times more than his annual salary.
