Is BTS coming to India? This Google search has outranked other top searches related to the legendary K-pop boyband ahead of their military discharge. While the world is counting down to their comeback days, speculating world tour plans, desi ARMYs are still trapped in an endless loop, wondering if they might finally reconsider their decision to perform in Mumbai.
Though the boys love the country and have expressed their hopes to visit from time to time, we cannot completely dismiss the fact that K-pop acts, unlike Western pop concerts, primarily depend on a few factors, including infrastructure, album sales, merchandise sales, etc, and just boasting a large fandom doesn’t really count. But in recent times, we feel that the dynamic has finally started changing, and India has emerged as a top hub for musical concerts, even getting shout-outs from Billboard and Rolling Stone for growing into “one of the mega-concert capitals of the world.”
India finally seems ready for a BTS concert
India’s gig era has officially kicked off: One of the biggest roadblocks stopping the country from hosting a large-scale K-pop concert was the infrastructure, something many Korean event planners kept pointing out during BTS’ 2020 world tour. But fast forward to now, the scene has changed. The country has already hosted over 80 large-scale concerts (Between 2024-2025), with Coldplay pulling off a massive two-day show at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Over 2.2 lakh people showed up, and the event ended up generating Rs 641 crore – that’s about $77 million. Back in March 2024, Ed Sheeran broke the internet in India. What most people didn’t expect was that he’d return in less than a year and perform across six cities. Travis Scott is the next big concert everyone’s waiting for. Earlier, there was Bryan Adams touring, then Maroon 5, Dua Lipa, and Green Day, the year has been jam-packed. So when you think about it, the infrastructure, venues, music systems, and cargo handling, it’s all grown. Festivals like Lollapalooza India and NH7 Weekender have brought global artistes to Indian stages. All of this put together solves what used to be the biggest problem for K-pop event planners.
Hallyu wave: 2024 has seen a full-blown K-pop wave crash into India with performances by Suho (EXO), Hyolyn (ex-SISTAR), BamBam (GOT7), Chen (EXO), Xiumin (EXO), B.I (ex-iKON), Jackson Wang, and more on the way. Sure, not every show came with the grand-scale glitz of a BTS or BLACKPINK concert, but the fan turnout and sold-out venues say it all. If lesser-known artistes can pull this off, then ruling out the possibility of a BTS show feels lazy at best. The old ‘Indian fans have no money’ narrative probably needs retiring. Critics love pointing fingers at India’s young ARMY and questioning how they’d afford concerts that deal in billions, a fair point, maybe, but also not the full story. Coldplay’s concert was a solid reality check: not exactly a household name across every Indian living room, yet the buzz, the coverage, the sheer hype turned it into a multi-crore success. Lesson? Create the moment, and the crowd will come. And let’s not forget, Chris Martin pretty much solved the BTS song dilemma himself by singing “My Universe” live. The internet watched the stadium turn purple.
Album sales: Earlier, purchasing official BTS albums was a horror for Indian fans, as trying to get your hands on any big K-pop album usually meant getting cheated with fake ones. This led to low or no sales at all. But now, Weverse (the official fan interaction platform) lets you shop and have them shipped to India. Apart from that, BTS’ agency also seems to have started testing the waters – last year, the official BT21 flagship store opened in Chennai. For the unversed, BT21 is a globally popular brand created in collaboration with a South Korean fashion label and BTS. So now, shopping for their merchandise won’t be a task. The band created eight characters, Tata, Mang, Chimmy, RJ, Koya, Cooky, Shooky, and Van, each dedicated to a member.
BTS Comeback: Back in 2020, BTS themselves admitted they had a Mumbai concert in the works, one that, unfortunately, got scrapped because of Covid. So, is India completely off their radar now? We don’t think so. With the group planning a full-fledged comeback in 2026, this break has been a testing phase, not just for fans but for BTS too. They’ll need to assess where the fandom still holds strong, and activities are likely to ramp up once their new album drops. If a 2026 world tour is on the cards, India still stands a fair chance. As for those wondering why members’ solo shows haven’t made it here yet – well, that’s probably the agency playing it safe. Solo gigs come with risks, and given the logistical challenges still surrounding concerts in India, a full-group performance makes more sense.
Theatrical and streaming success: BookMyShow is India’s leading online entertainment ticketing platform, and Hybe has already partnered with the organisers. Several BTS concert films were released during the group’s pre-military phase, including BTS: Yet To Come in Cinemas, Permission to Dance on Stage: Live Viewing, their Busan concert, members’ individual documentaries and more. All of these received a thunderous response from fans, going on to do massive business despite the tickets being priced a little above average. Time and again, India has proven to be a streaming stronghold for BTS. Their songs consistently rank in the top 5, showing that even if album sales aren’t sky-high, the country more than makes up for it with massive streaming numbers.
Though we’re not quite on the same level as Japan, the US, or other K-pop hotspots with their massive listening culture and high album sales, if India’s music scene keeps growing, we’re not far from catching up.