MUMBAI: The incumbent central government under the prime minister Narendra Modi has spent Rs 1100 crore in advertising expenditure in the last one and a half years, as per the information provided by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry in response to a Right To Information (RTI) application filed by an activist.

This expenditure was incurred between 1 June, 2014, and 31 August, 2016. and only accounts for the advertisement for 'telecast/television, Internet and other electronic media' and does not include other platforms such as print advertisements, hoardings, posters, booklets and calendars. The total sum will be many times higher if these costs are also factored in. If broken down into daily expenditure the figure comes to Rs 1.4 crore a day.

Some of the famous campaigns of the union government are -- Swachh Bharat initiative, 'Make in India', Selfie with Daughter and 'Digital India.' The government has engaged several leading creative agencies like Ogilvy and Mather, and McCann Worldwide group to conceptualise and execute the campaigns.

According to a digital publication, this amount far exceeds the cost of India's Mars mission, Mangalyaan, which is estimated at Rs 450 crore.