Although the overall advertisement budget has decreased, the Narendra Modi government has spent Rs 3,064.42 crore on advertising and publicity for its policies and initiatives from 2018–19, with print media leading the list.
According to information presented by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Rajya Sabha last week, up to July 13 of this year, the Modi government spent a total of Rs. 1,338.56 crore on print media, Rs. 1,273.06 crore on electronic media, and Rs. 452.80 crore on outdoor publicity.
The data shows a decrease in overall spending, from Rs 1,179.16 crore in 2018–19 to Rs 408.46 crore in 2022–23.
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The cost of advertising fell to Rs 708.18 crore in 2019–20. In 2020–21 and 2021–22, it the Modi government decreased to Rs 409.47 crore and Rs 315.98 crore, respectively, before increasing again in 2022–23. This year, the government has spent Rs 43.16 crore on advertisements between April and July 13. Data research revealed that, compared to print media, electronic media had a more significant proportion of the advertising pie in 2018–19 and 2019–20. Still, that share fell over the next three fiscal years.
Print media received advertising of Rs 429.55 crore in 2018–19, compared to Rs 514.29 crore for electronic media from the Modi government. Although the Covid-19 pandemic significantly reduced the advertising budget in the following fiscal year, electronic media received Rs 316.99 crore instead of Rs 295.05 crore for print.
Nevertheless, the pattern changed in 2020–2021, with print media earning Rs 197.49 crore compared to electronic media’s Rs 167.90 crore. In the same way, for print and electronic media, it was Rs 179.04 crore as opposed to Rs 101.24 crore, Rs 220.34 crore, and Rs 155.27 crore, respectively.
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However, the first four months of the current fiscal year revealed that the Modi government spent more on electronic media- Rs 17.37 crore as opposed to Rs 17.09 crore for print.
In the meantime, spending on outdoor advertising has significantly decreased, going from Rs 235.33 crore in 2018–19 to Rs 32.85 crore in 2022–23. The government has already spent Rs 8.70 crore on outdoor advertising this fiscal.
Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, responded in writing to Abir Ranjan Biswas of the Trinamool Congress, stating that an independent third-party agency conducted an all-India survey and impact assessment study of the multi-media campaigns run by the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) that included 722 districts.
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“Findings of the study are beneficial in planning effective communication strategies to ensure targeted information dissemination and last mile connectivity,” he said.
Syed Nasir Hussain of the Congress asked a similar but distinct question, and the Minister responded that the CBC releases campaigns related to publicity/awareness about government schemes/programs while considering factors like target audience, budgetary constraints, etc., as specified by the client ministries and departments.
