Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur told the Rajya Sabha that the government spent ₹3,339.49 crore on advertising in print and electronic media since 2017. Thakur said the government spent ₹1,756.48 crore on advertisements in the print media from 2017-18 till July 12 this year. In the same period, the government spent ₹1,583.01 crore on advertisements in electronic media.