Assam's Himanta government spent Rs 370 crore on advertisements in 4 years

BJP Government’s Advertisement Spending in Assam Over the Years

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Assam has also spent heavily on advertising. State Information and Public Relations Minister Piyush Hazarika told the Assembly on Wednesday that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's government has spent more than Rs 370 crore on advertisements in the last four financial years.

National News coverage shared data revealing the spending trend across different years. Hazarika said that the state government led by Sarbananda Sonowal, who was the Chief Minister of Assam from 2016 to 2021, had spent Rs 125.6 crore on advertisements in the 5 financial years from 2016-17.

Year-wise data shared by the BJP for both tenures showed that Rs 30.24 crore was spent by the Sonowal government in 2020-21, while Rs 72.83 crore was spent the next year after Sarma took charge for the second term of the NDA government in the state.

The expenditure on advertising in Assam increased significantly during the tenure of the Sarma government. The assembly was informed that in the subsequent period, the Sarma government continued to raise the advertising expenditure each year. In 2022-23, the expenditure increased to Rs 78.85 crore, and in 2023-24, it surged to Rs 160.92 crore.

As of the current financial year 2024-25, Rs 59.72 crore has been spent by the government on various types of advertisements.

In response to a question by independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, Minister Hazarika said the Assam government had spent Rs 18.58 crore on advertisements in 2015-16, the last financial year of former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's tenure, after which the BJP government came to power and Sonowal replaced him. The very next year, the Sonowal government's advertising expenditure increased to Rs 26.88 crore.

Read more about the developments in Assam and the advertising trends.