Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the government has spent Rs 3,723.38 crore through the Central Bureau of Communications (CBC) on advertising its policies and programs during the last five years.
He gave this information to the Upper House in a written reply to a question and said that the government’s expenditure on advertisement and publicity has not increased in the last five years.
He said Rs 1,220.89 crore was spent on advertisements in 2017-18 while Rs 1,106.88 crore was spent in 2018-19.
Thakur said the government spent Rs 627.67 crore on advertisement in 2019-20, Rs 349.09 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 264.78 crore in 2021-22.
He informed that in the current financial year till December 9, 2022, the government has spent Rs 154.07 crore on advertisements.
Responding to Congress member Syed Nasir Hussain’s question, Thakur said, “As per the above data, the expenditure on advertisement and publicity has not increased in the last few years.”
