Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi completed 12 years in office on Wednesday, 10 June, 2026. Over the last 11 to 12 years, the Central Government led by PM Modi spent a vast amount of money on various sectors, among which one truly stands out, which is the advertisements. Let’s see during this period, how much did the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spend on advertisements. Official data released by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reveals that between the Financial Years 2014-15 (FY15) and 2024-25 (FY25), the Central Government spent a total of ₹5,987.46 crore on publicizing its schemes and achievements across various media platforms. This massive spending averages out to nearly ₹1.5 crore every single day. Where did the money go? The government distributes its advertising budget across three main channels: During the initial years of the administration, spending peaked significantly. For instance, the maximum spending on electronic media occurred in the financial year 2016-17, reaching ₹609.15 crore. Print media advertising hit its highest mark a year later, in 2017-18, at ₹636.09 crore. Modi govt spent more than ₹200 crore on ads during Covid-19 pandemic years While the overall annual ad spend saw a downward trend during the pandemic years—dropping to ₹214.94 crore in 2021-22—it has experienced a steady recovery since. By the 2023-24 financial year, the annual spending climbed back up to ₹353.98 crore. This fluctuation reflects the shift in government communication priorities over the decade. Shift to digital and big media houses Recent data highlights two major trends in how the government has spent on advertisements. Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, the government rapidly increased its budget for global internet and social media platforms. Google India and YouTube received more than ₹120.13 crore in government advertisement allocations, while Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, received around ₹24.45 crore during the same period. BJP govt’s ad spends went to over 1,000 newspapers in FY25 Simultaneously, a small number of large organisations continue to receive the majority of traditional print revenue. In the 2024-25 financial year, the government spent ₹119.79 crore on print advertisements spread across more than 1,000 newspapers. However, over half of that total amount—₹63.23 crore—went to just 10 major media groups, led by prominent publishers like HT Media and the Times of India Group. Direct Benefit Transfer savings While the expenditure on government publicity remains a subject of public discussion, the administration claims that its technology-driven governance has helped it clock huge savings. According to statements from the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, the implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system over the last 12 years has saved the national exchequer over ₹4.31 lakh crore. By using digital infrastructure to send welfare funds directly to citizens’ bank accounts, the government has successfully removed middlemen and plugged leakages across various public welfare programmes. Post navigation Japanese sushi restaurant drives people crazy in China:Millennials Gen-Z wait for up to 14 hrs in line to taste excellent quality lower priced sushi India’s first AI data centre to be built in Jamnagar:Meta partners with Reliance to establish 168 MW AI facility; could this project impact the environment?
