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VC Ritesh Banglani argues that overcrowded restaurants and pubs reflect a shortage of businesses after a viral Bengaluru pub photo sparked debate
An image of a packed Bengaluru pub has gone viral, triggering a larger debate online (Image-X/@banglani)
A viral image showing a jam-packed pub in Bengaluru has sparked widespread discussion on social media about why popular venues in India are often overflowing with customers.
Weighing into the debate on X, venture capitalist Ritesh Banglani claimed that the long queues, packed eateries and crowded pubs commonly seen across urban India are a consequence of structural barriers that discourage entrepreneurship.
According to him, the country does not have too many customers; instead, it has too few businesses capable of serving them. “Why is everything so crowded in India? It’s not too much demand; it’s too little supply,” Banglani wrote.
He went on to explain that a combination of high real-estate costs, complex licensing requirements, restrictive zoning regulations, limited access to affordable capital, bureaucratic red tape and corruption creates significant hurdles for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Banglani also pointed to the importance of political or police connections in certain sectors, arguing that these factors make it difficult for new businesses to enter the market and compete.
As a result, he said, consumer demand continues to rise while the number of establishments capable of meeting that demand fails to keep pace. This imbalance, according to his argument, leads to overcrowded commercial spaces and lengthy waiting times for customers.
His remarks quickly gained traction online and prompted a flood of responses from users, many of whom offered competing explanations for the issue.
“It is simply the lack of space. Compare the population and areas of China and India and America and you will have the answer write there. Include Brazil also if you want. India is a pretty small country relative to the population and that is crowded in only certain pockets,” said one user.
Others, however, echoed Banglani’s concerns regarding economic barriers and business viability.
“Real estate makes most businesses unviable in india for most people, only businesses started by wealthy people survive who have capital invest to already own real estate or have black money which cannot be parked nowhere else other than real estate and these cash businesses are good way to convert black money to white, so they don’t care about low return percentage,” said another.
A separate group of users argued that the problem stems less from population size and more from weak urban planning and inadequate public infrastructure.
“People who say population and population density are our faults is either gaslighting or being gaslighted, India simply has too less and very weak public infrastructure and zoning laws are weakly enforced. The problem squarely lies with municipalities and powers that be,” wrote a third user.
Some users questioned whether the viral image itself represented a broader trend.
“Generally maybe. Not this. Upscale pubs are mostly empty(even on weekends). This probably is more an Instagram virality thing,” commented another.
Why is everything so crowded in India?It’s not too much demand; it’s too little supply. High real estate cost, restrictive licensing and zoning, inaccessible and expensive capital, need for political and police connections, corruption, unclear and inconsistently applied laws -… https://t.co/V6kmMmHmR2
— Ritesh Banglani (@banglani) May 29, 2026
The debate also prompted users to reflect on daily life in densely populated cities.
“Delhi is such an extreme example of this. Look anywhere there are 100 people in your field of vision. A very big motivation to escape the underclass fast. Maybe there are places but I’m just not rich enough to not take the metro,” said one commenter.
Another user highlighted regulatory costs as a contributing factor, particularly in the hospitality sector.
“Yes laws are poor 90 percent of people are drinking on the road, in their car or two wheeler in UP just because basic licensing fees to serve liquor is 18 lakhs …. City Development authorities are not developing commercial space to cater the growing need of commercial space,” the user wrote.
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