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The worst excesses of the Indian wedding industry may soon be curbed if a new bill is approved.
The proposed bill will not only limit the number of guests and dishes served to avoid waste, but also put a "tax" on the most extravagant newlyweds.
Those who spend over 500,000 rupees ($7,500; £6,000) will have to give 10% of the overall cost to poorer brides to help them pay for their weddings.
It comes amid rising anger over the huge sums being shelled out by some.
In November, the five-day wedding of businessman and ex-state minister G Janardhana Reddy's daughter, Brahmani, withan estimated cost of about 5bn rupees($74m; £59m), prompted outrage as millions of Indians struggledwith a cash flow crisis.
Among the extravagances were gold-plated invitation cards fitted with LCD screens, costing 10m rupees.
MP Ranjeet Ranjan, who is proposing the Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, told Indian news agency PTI weddings had become "more about showing off your wealth" and not about the institution.
"As a result, poor families are under tremendous social pressure to spend more," she said. "This is needed to be checked as it is not good for society at large."
The proposal could be taken up as a private members bill in the next session of the country's Lok Sabha, or lower house.
(BBC)
