How much do famous YouTubers in India earn, and how?

A famous YouTuber Gaurav Taneja allegedly said in a podcast, and later denied, that he earns more than AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes who sacked him a few years ago.

His monthly income may not be fixed, but one can always get a rough idea of his average income based on a back-of-the-envelope calculation.

A rough multiplication shows that Taneja, with 8.6 million subscribers, uploads around 4-5 videos in a week on his channel ‘Flying Beast’. Although the number of views differ from video to video, a rough estimate of one million per video means that he earns a minimum of ₹8.5 – 9 lakh a month from one channel .

He also runs two other channels, out of which one has 1.25 million subscribers and the third one has 2.09 million subscribers. So, you can add another lakh rupees or two for each channel’s income per month, and Mr Taneja stands to get richer by another ₹2 lakh a month from these two channels, thus bringing the total figure to ₹11-12 lakh a month.

This is still a highly conservative estimate. After all, he would be earning more through brand endorsements, affiliate marketing and some paid content.

And he is not alone!

A number of youngsters have started minting money from video streaming platform YouTube. It is not an alternative income platform but their main source of income.

Earning an extra income by treating YouTube as a side hustle is passe. There are a number of YouTubers who have raked in a moolah by making and streaming videos that garner millions of views.

Here we give a lowdown on the income these video streamers stand to earn by producing and streaming eye-catching videos.

To be able to monetise videos, YouTubers first need to join YPP (YouTube Partner Programme). After joining the YPP, a creator must have made a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours before becoming eligible to earn money through YouTube.

YouTube pays ₹53.46 per 1k views. This means YouTubers can earn up to ₹53,460 if they gain one million views. However, the income

Another rough estimate shows that the top one percent of YouTubers earn an average of ₹13 lakh per month.

These are the top 7 YouTubers in India

Now, based on the calculation at the rate of ₹53,460 per million views, if someone like 24-year-old Ajey Nagar who runs YouTube channel Carryminati gets around 20 million views on one video, i.e., half of the number of his subscribers. So, he stands to earn ₹10,69,200 from one video.

Now, based on the number of videos he uploads in one month, his monthly income would multiply by that number. If he uploads just two videos in a month, his monthly income comes to around ₹21.38 lakh.

Additionally, YouTubers also earn through brand endorsements, affiliate marketing and by selling merchandise. A few YouTubers also earn by creating a premium channel where you stream video to a select few viewers who pay money to you directly for the premium quality videos.