How much does the Government spend on Social Media advertising?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 4, 2018
The Central Government’s expenditure on social media advertising includes the expenditure from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) and the expenditure from MyGov.
Factly had earlier reported that the Central Government spent close to Rs 10000 crore on publicity in the last 16 years. But what is the expenditure on social media?
Is MIB the only Ministry doing outreach/promotional activities for the government?
While the overall publicity expenditure is borne by the MIB, it is not the only organization that is publicizing government programs. MyGov, a division of the Digital India Corporation under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, also does multiple outreach activities of the government including Mann ki Baat, various quizzes, publicizing achievements of the government etc. Hence, the Central Government’s expenditure on social media advertising includes the expenditure from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the expenditure from MyGov.
Total Amount spent on Publicity by MIB
MIB of the Central Government spent close to Rs 10000 crore on publicity in 16 years, from 2002-03 to 2017-18. This includes 10 years of the UPA rule and six years of the NDA. As per DAVP, the data is available only from 2002-03.
As can be seen from the graph, the amount spent on publicity has increased every year except in 2006-07, 2011-12 and 2014-15. It is also interesting to note that the publicity expenditure during election years is substantially more than the normal. For instance, the amount spent from 2004-05 to 2007-08 (4 years) is equal to the amount spent in just two years (2008-09 & 2009-10). Same is the case with 2013-14 & 2014-15. On average, the publicity expenditure in an election year is 40% more than the preceding year. The overall publicity expenditure has been at least Rs 1000 crore in each of the years starting 2013-14.
What about Social Media expenditure by MIB?
As per the information provided by the MIB in response to an application under RTI, a total of Rs 81.62 crore is spent on social media advertisements in the six (6) years between 2012-13 and 2017-18.The NDA government spent a total of Rs 67.17 crore in the 4 years between 2014-15 and 2017-18. It has to be noted that the spending on social media began in 2012-13.  In the last three years, at least Rs 17 crore is spent on social media advertising each year.
Between 2012-13 and 2015-16, majority of the expenditure was through the internet medium. In 2015-16, the expenditure through the internet medium was almost three times the expenditure on SMS. This trend was reversed in both 2016-17 and 2017-18 when the majority of expenditure was on SMS. In 2017-18, the expenditure on SMS was almost 2.5 times the expenditure through the internet.
What about expenditure on MyGov?
The annual report from MEITY indicates that the total expenditure on MyGov was Rs 106.61 crore in 2016-17. Close to 90% of this expenditure is on advertising & conferences as per the expenditure statement. The annual report for 2017-18 is not yet available.