Government spends Rs 38 crore in over 6 months on Google ads promoting Modi

On March 4, after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav jeered that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “no family”, BJP leaders leapt to Modi’s defense. Just like the “Chowkidar” days from 2019, they added “Modi Ka Parivar” to their names on social media.

A week later, the Central Bureau of Communications, a government department under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, spent at least Rs 65 lakh on Google ads for “Modi Ka Parivar”, according to data from the Google Ads Transparency Centre.

This amount went towards two video ads that featured on multiple Google platforms like YouTube at least 27.5 million times between March 9 and 14. One is 30 seconds long and explains that army officers are Modi’s “family”. The other, about a minute long, says women are Modi’s family since he “cares” for them.

But that’s just a drop.

Between March 1 and March 16, CBC spent over Rs 10 crore on 379 Google ads, averaging to Rs 63 lakh a day, on three other campaigns touting Modi and his achievements: “Modi ki Guarantee”, “Maa Mazboot to Bharat Mata Mazboot”, and “Humara Sankalp Viksit Bharat”. On March 17, the model code of conduct came into effect.

Rs 8.84 crore was spent on video ads, while Rs 1.12 crore went towards ads in image format. 

Importantly, data on Google ads is available for the CBC from September 2023 onward, when it spent to promote an ad for a Chandrayaan-3 “mahaquiz”. Since then, the department has spent over Rs 38 crore on Google ads.

It spent its highest amount in February 2024 – an increase of 73 percent from its expenditure in September. February’s expenditure included Rs 11.68 lakh on Modi Ki Guarantee, Rs 77.8 lakh on Maa Mazboot Bharat Mata Mazboot and Rs 61 lakh on Humara Sankalp Viksit Bharat.

Meanwhile, all the Google ads in November, December and January – Rs 12.8 crore in total – went towards Modi Ki Guarantee. 

The most money was spent on ads targeting audiences in Uttar Pradesh (Rs 6 crore), followed by Maharashtra (Rs 3.8 crore), Gujarat (Rs 3.2 crore), Delhi (Rs 2.8 crore) and Bihar (Rs 2.3 crore).

Newslaundry repeatedly contacted the Central Bureau of Communication for comment but received no response. We also emailed them a questionnaire; this report will be updated if they respond.

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