Policies/Regulation

The Narendra Modi government has spent Rs 4,343 crore on publicity since it came to power in May 2014, an agency under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said in reply to an RTI query.

The expenditure was incurred on advertisements in the print and electronic media as well as outdoor publicity, the central government agency said in response to the application filed by city-based RTI activist Anil Galgali. The Bureau of Outreach Communication under the ministry said the government spent Rs 4,343.26 crore on advertising its programmes across media platforms.

This included Rs 1,732.15 crore on advertisements in the print media (from June 1, 2014 to December 7, 2017) and Rs 2,079.87 crore in the electronic media (from June 1, 2014 to March 31, 2018). A sum of Rs 531.24 crore was spent on outdoor publicity (June 2014 to January 2018), it said.