The government again allocated Rs 15 crore to the film development fund, Rs 2.98 crore to Independence and Republic Day advertising and Rs 0.24 crore to the journalists’ welfare fund. In this category, the government spent Rs 236.33 crore in 2017-18, Rs 271.90 crore in 2018-19 and steadily rose to Rs 398.23 crore in 2019-20. While the pandemic witnessed a dip of Rs 311.46 crore, it shot back up to Rs 951.75 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 1,158.06 crore in 2022-23, the data showed. It spiked sharply over the next two years, reaching Rs 149.97 crore in 2021–22 and peaking at Rs 227.44 crore in 2022–23, before easing to Rs 209.14 crore in 2023–24 and Rs 153.15 crore in 2024–25. Out of the total budget, advertising and visual publicity received Rs 705.14 crore, publication Rs 171.12 crore and field publicity Rs 37.14 crore.