Govt reduced its spending on ads: I&B minister in Parliament

Replying to a question by NCP MP Dr Fauzia Khan, Anurag Thakur said the government cut down on its advertisement expenditure by reducing the size of non-communication advertisements such as tenders or job vacancies

The government has reduced its spending on advertisements, Union minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur told Parliament on Monday.

Union minister Anurag Thakur in New Delhi on Monday, August 2. (ANI)

Replying to a question by NCP MP Dr Fauzia Khan, Thakur said the government cut down on its advertisement expenditure by reducing the size of non-communication advertisements such as tenders or job vacancies.

“Before 2014, you used to see advertisements from different ministries and departments of the government. But now, we have adopted the policy of integrated advertisement. This has helped the government in increasing awareness about its policies and also reduced costs,” he said in Rajya Sabha.

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Earlier, on July 26, the minister told the Upper House that the government’s expenditure on advertisement in print, electronic and digital media has steadily declined in the last three years. In a written response to BJD MP Sasmit Patra’s question, Thakur said the Centre spent ₹429.55 crore on print ads and ₹514.29 crore on TV ads in 2018-19. In 2019-20, the allocation for print ads fell to ₹295.05 crore, while the expenditure on electronic media platforms was down to ₹316.99 crore.