NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the big rich families to shun the idea of holding weddings abroad and to hold these sacred ceremonies in the country.

He said if they do so, “countrey’s money will remain within the country” and in near future people will same similar facilities like they get at overseas wedding destinations.In his monthly radio address, Mann ki Baat, the PM called the craze for holding wedding ceremonies abroad as a “pain” in his heart.“...since the topic of marriage has come up, one thing has been troubling me off and on for a long time… and if I don’t open up my heart’s pain to my family members, who else do I do it with? Just ponder… these days a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings.

Is this at all necessary? If we celebrate the festivities of marriages onIndian soil, amid the people of India, the country's money will remain in the country,” Modi said.He added that if the big rich families do so people here will get an opportunity to render some service or the other at such weddings and even the poor will tell their children about that occasion.

“Can you extrapolate on this mission of ‘Vocal for Local’? Why don’t we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organise such events, systems will also develop.

This is a topic related to very big families.

I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those big families,” the PM said.Highlighting that the success of Swachh Bharat Mission has inspired the success of “Vocal for Local”, he said this campaign is opening the doors to a developed and prosperous India as it strengthens the economy and is a guarantee of employment.

“This provides equal opportunities to both urban and rural people.

This also paves the way for value addition in local products, and if ever, there are ups and downs in the global economy, the mantra of Vocal for Local also protects our economy,” he said.Modi said the sentiment of becoming vocal towards Indian products should not be limited to festivals only and during the wedding season people should go for Made in India products.

He said some trade organisations estimate that there could be a business of around Rs 5 lakh crore during this wedding season.