{"id":6426,"date":"2026-03-14T17:24:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefrontpage24.com\/?p=6426"},"modified":"2026-03-14T17:24:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T17:24:44","slug":"centre-spent-nearly-%e2%82%b9119-79-crore-on-print-advertisements-in-2024-25-data-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefrontpage24.com\/?p=6426","title":{"rendered":"Centre spent nearly \u20b9119.79 crore on print advertisements in 2024\u201325, data shows"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><em>More than half of the expenditure went to 10 major media groups; questions raised in Lok Sabha on influencer payments remain unanswered<\/em><\/h4>\n<p>TFP Bureau, New Delhi, March 14,2026: The Union Government spent \u20b9119,79,91,875 on print media advertisements during the financial year 2024\u201325, distributing the advertisements among 1,052 newspapers across the country. However, official figures indicate that a substantial portion of the total spending was concentrated among a handful of major media organisations, with more than half of the expenditure going to just ten large media groups.<\/p>\n<p>The details were provided by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The question seeking information on the government\u2019s advertising expenditure was raised by Rachna Banerjee, a Member of Parliament from the All India Trinamool Congress.<\/p>\n<p>According to the data, approximately \u20b963.23 crore\u2014more than half of the total amount spent on print advertising\u2014was allocated to just ten prominent media groups. The figures were highlighted in a report published by Newslaundry, which analysed the information shared by the government in Parliament.<\/p>\n<h4>Major share received by leading media houses<\/h4>\n<p>Among the newspapers that received the highest share of government advertisements, the Hindustan Times Group topped the list, receiving advertisements worth about \u20b913.56 crore during the financial year 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n<p>The Times of India Group followed with advertisements valued at approximately \u20b911.16 crore. Other major Hindi newspaper groups also received significant shares of the advertising expenditure.<\/p>\n<p>Dainik Jagran received around \u20b99.63 crore, while Dainik Bhaskar was allocated advertisements worth about \u20b98.29 crore. Amar Ujala received around \u20b94.93 crore and Rajasthan Patrika obtained approximately \u20b94.79 crore in government advertisements.<\/p>\n<p>Among English and regional language newspapers, Deccan Chronicle received advertisements worth about \u20b93.33 crore, while Nav Bharat received approximately \u20b93.21 crore.<\/p>\n<p>The Punjab Kesari Group received advertisements valued at about \u20b92.35 crore, and Sakal Media Group received around \u20b91.98 crore.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to these organisations, the Indian Express Group also received government advertisements worth nearly \u20b91.75 crore during the same period.<\/p>\n<p>Government advertisements are typically released through the Central Bureau of Communication, which functions under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is responsible for disseminating government campaigns and public awareness messages through various media platforms.<\/p>\n<h4>Queries raised regarding influencer spending<\/h4>\n<p>Apart from seeking details about expenditure on print and television advertisements, MP Rachna Banerjee had also raised questions regarding payments made by the government to influencer agencies and individual social media influencers for promotional campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>However, in his written reply, Minister L. Murugan stated that year-wise and category-wise information about advertisement expenditure is available on the official website of the Central Bureau of Communication. No specific figures were provided regarding payments made to influencers or influencer agencies.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, questions related to spending on influencer-based promotional campaigns remain unanswered.<\/p>\n<p>Available records on government portals linked to the former Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity indicate detailed information on print advertising expenditure for 2024\u201325 and television advertising expenditure for 2020\u201321. However, complete and updated data covering all media platforms and financial years has not been publicly detailed in response to the parliamentary query.<\/p>\n<h4>Over \u20b92,446 crore spent on government advertisements in five years<\/h4>\n<p>Data provided earlier in Parliament indicates that the Union Government has spent a total of \u20b92,446.90 crore on advertisements across different media platforms over the past five financial years.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2025, responding to a question raised by Shafi Parambil, a Member of Parliament from the Indian National Congress, the government had shared year-wise figures of advertisement spending between 2020\u201321 and 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n<p>According to the figures presented in Parliament, the expenditure during these years was as follows:<\/p>\n<p>2020\u201321: \u20b9409.55 crore<br \/>\n2021\u201322: \u20b9317.48 crore<br \/>\n2022\u201323: \u20b9408.37 crore<br \/>\n2023\u201324: \u20b9656.60 crore<br \/>\n2024\u201325: \u20b9654.90 crore<\/p>\n<p>The data shows a notable increase in government advertising expenditure during the last two financial years.<\/p>\n<h4>Breakdown by media platforms<\/h4>\n<p>The government also provided a platform-wise breakdown of the total spending on advertisements during the five-year period.<\/p>\n<p>According to the figures, the largest share of the spending\u2014\u20b9985.44 crore\u2014was allocated to audio-visual advertisements, which include television and related broadcast campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Print media accounted for the second-largest share, receiving approximately \u20b9930.24 crore in advertisements over the same period.<\/p>\n<p>Outdoor advertising formats, including billboards and public display campaigns, received \u20b9392.51 crore, while digital and new media platforms accounted for \u20b9138.71 crore.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the cumulative expenditure of \u20b92,446.90 crore over five years, the government\u2019s average daily spending on advertisements works out to roughly \u20b91.34 crore.<\/p>\n<h4>Calls for greater transparency<\/h4>\n<p>Despite the disclosure of overall expenditure figures, questions related to the allocation of funds to social media influencers and influencer marketing agencies remain unresolved.<\/p>\n<p>Observers note that with the increasing role of digital platforms in government outreach campaigns, detailed disclosure of spending across all media categories, including influencer partnerships, has become an important aspect of transparency in public communication.<\/p>\n<p>Queries regarding these aspects were reportedly sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. However, at the time the report was compiled, no further clarification had been received from the ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than half of the expenditure went to 10 major media groups; questions raised in Lok Sabha on influencer payments remain unanswered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,314,27,210],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-lok-sabha","category-national","category-pmo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Centre spent nearly \u20b9119.79 crore on print advertisements in 2024\u201325, data shows - thefrontpage24.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thefrontpage24.com\/?p=6426\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Centre spent nearly \u20b9119.79 crore on print advertisements in 2024\u201325, data shows - 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