I&B Ministry gets allocation of Rs 2,737.32 cr; increase of 5 pc

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry saw an increase of 5 per cent in its budgetary allocation for fiscal 2012-13, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocating it Rs 2,737.32 crore as against the last year's Rs 2,604.78 crore.

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The state broadcaster would be a major beneficiary of the amount marked for the I&B Ministry as grant-in-aid of Prasar Bharati have been assigned at Rs 1,574.37 crore. In the last fiscal, Rs 1,574.01 had been spent by Prasar Bharati.

The grant-in-aid is being provided to cover the gap in resources of Prasar Bharati in meeting its revenue expenditure.

The Budget also marks another Rs 401 crore for Prasar Bharati under the head 'Investments in Public Enterprises' in the Plan category. In addition, another Rs 400 crore is also earmarked under the same head for Prasar Bharati under the non-Plan category.

The Budget document explains that this amount under the head 'Investments in Public Enterprises' is a loan being provided to Prasar Bharati to finance its capital expenditure.