Budget 2024-25: Govt allocates Rs 1,089 crore for publicity

The Narendra Modi government’s third tenure is likely to be no different from the Modi 2.0, as far as the advertising allocation of the government is concerned. 

According to the budget documents, the information and publicity allocation for the current fiscal stands at Rs 1,089 crore. A capital outlay of Rs 38 Cr has also been made for Information and Publicity. These allocations have been clubbed under social services.  

This year’s allocation is slightly higher compared to the previous three years’ allocations-Rs 1,078 (revised FY 23) and Rs 1,001 Cr (FY22)- but remains in the same range. 

This is roughly one percent of India’s overall ad revenue which was roughly Rs one lakh crore in FY23 and nearly one fourth of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) budget. 

As announced in the interim budget session, the allocation for the MIB in 2024-2025 is Rs 4,342 crore. For broadcasting, which largely means Prasar Bharti and the government-run television, All India Radio, Community Radio, and related infrastructure such as DTH, the allocation has been slashed from Rs 3,071 Cr to Rs 2,960 Cr. 

The first quarter of the fiscal is already over, which largely remained under the model code of conduct for the Loksabha elections, it is believed that the most of the publicity amount is meant for the next nine months. 

In the previous years, a significant chunk of the publicity budget was spent on print and television advertisements, roughly 40 percent each. 

The government advertising accounts for a sizable chunk of revenue for Big Media. In the time of an economic downturn, media companies come to rely even more heavily on ad spending by governments in states and at the Centre. 

“These ads, however, come with strings attached. Governments tend to distribute ads in lieu of favourable coverage or use it as a stick to beat journalists into compliance,” industry experts say.