Union Budget 2018: I&B ministry gets Rs 4,089 crore outlay

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting got an outlay of about Rs 4,089 crore in the Union Budget 2018-19, a dip of 7.25% as compared to Rs 4,409 crore for the current fiscal.

However, the allocation for 2018-19 is higher by Rs 13.42 crore as against the revised amount of Rs 3,605.11 crore for 2017-18.

Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR), got more than half of the share in the total outlay i.e. about Rs 2,820.56 crore. But the allocation for the public broadcaster is 5.87% lower than Rs 2,996.70 crore allocated in 2017-18 budget.

Besides, Prasar Bharati was allocated additional Rs 315 crore for 2018-19, a dip of 26.58% from Rs 430 crore for 2017-18. The amount is grant-in-aid for ‘Kisan’ and ‘Arun Prabha’ channels.

The Bureau of Outreach and Communication, the entity formed by merging the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) and Song and Drama Division (S&DD), got Rs 174.29 crore this budget.

DAVP was allocated Rs 71.42 crore in 2017-18 budget, DFP Rs 67.60 crore and S&DD Rs 45.70 crore.

The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity is the nodal agency of the central government for advertising on behalf of various ministries, departments, public sector firms and autonomous organisations funded by the government.