NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati spent 51 per cent of its total expenditure for 2013-14 on salaries, Parliament was told today.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said that approximately 15 per cent was spent by the pubcaster on infrastructure.

Only an approximate 11 per cent was incurred by Prasar Bharati on programming during 2013-14.

In the budget announced on February last year (2013), the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati had been raised from the revised estimates of Rs 172.904 crore to Rs 218.037 crore but there was no separate investment by the Government in the pubcaster as in previous years.

However, there was provision for investment of Rs 20 crore from Internal and Extra-budgetary resources for Prasar Bharati.

An explanatory memorandum said the grants-in-aid were towards meeting the salary and salary related expenditure.

Prasar Bharati sources had then told indiantelevision.com that this had been done to meet the extra expenditure on salaries which has fallen on the shoulders of the Government since all Prasar Bharati employees who were in employment as on 5 October 2007 have been given deemed deputation status.