Odisha Govt Spent Rs 19.40 Cr On Publicity & Advertisements In 10 Months: Minister Tells Assembly

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government spent Rs 19.40 crore on publicity and advertisement during the first ten months of the current financial year, the state Assembly was informed on Tuesday.

In a written answer to a question by BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling, Information and Public Relations Minister Pradeep Amat said that a budget allocation of Rs 74.80 crore has been made for publicity and advertisement for the year 2023-24.

However, an amount of Rs 19.40 crore has been spent on publicity and advertisement by the end of January, 2024, he said.

Giving a breakup of the expenditure of funds, the Minister said that Rs 17.43 crore was spent on print media advertisements, Rs 31 lakh on electronic media advertisements, and Rs 1.93 crore was spent on advertisements through hoardings and outdoor branding.

These apart, different departments are also spending on different projects like the Jagannath Temple Heritage Corridor Project, Nabin Odisha programme, and the World Odia Language Conference.

The Information and Public Relations department has spent around Rs 83 crore on publicity and advertisements in the last five years.