A steaming plate of Maggi and a cutting chai up in the mountains is pretty much a rite of passage for anyone traveling through Himachal. But behind those cozy roadside stalls lies a business scale that most tourists completely overlook. Up at Rohtang Pass, one local vendor recently broke down his daily sales, proving that even a tiny mountain stall can pull in serious numbers when the location is right.The breakdown came to light when content creator Harsh Chauhan stopped by the stall during the off-season and started chatting with the owner about how business was holding up. While the vendor modestly admitted that tourist footfall was on the lower side, the math he shared told a very different story.On an average slow day, the stall pushes around 60 to 70 plates of Maggi, priced at ₹100 each. Add to that nearly 200 cups of hot tea at ₹40 a pop, plus a steady stream of boiled and fried egg orders. Doing the quick math, Chauhan estimated the vendor’s daily turnover sits comfortably between ₹14,000 and ₹15,000, almost ₹4,65,000 per month – and that’s without factoring in peak tourist months.As expected, the clip sparked a massive debate online. While plenty of viewers were blown away by the daily revenue – leading Chauhan to caption his post with the reminder that “no business is small” – others were quick to point out the difference between top-line sales and actual take-home profit.Running a food stall at over 13,000 feet isn’t like opening a shop in the plains. Carrying basic supplies like water, gas cylinders, noodles, and milk up steep mountain passes drives up transportation costs significantly. On top of that, working long hours in freezing temperatures, unpredictable weather, and harsh conditions adds a layer of physical effort that no raw revenue figure can fully capture.Still, the video gave internet users a fresh perspective on micro-entrepreneurship in high-altitude tourist hubs. It’s a solid reminder that smart location choices, simple comfort food, and sheer daily hustle can turn a modest tea stall into a surprisingly lucrative enterprise.
