The Prasar Bharati would get Rs 12 billion in FY'12 if the Information and Broadcasting Ministry manages to get Rs 17 billion as plan outlay in the forthcoming Budget.

Despite the Information and Broadcasting Ministry failing to allocate the full grant-in-aid to the struggling Prasar Bharati in the current fiscal, the Ministry has sought a doubling of its allocation for 2011-12 to Rs 17 billion.

It is learnt that the I&B Ministry has sought more allocation following a decision by the Group of Ministers attached to Prasar Bharati which has recommended that the level of government support should be maintained for the public service broadcaster for the next five years from 2010-11 to 2014-15.


Though the total allocation for 2010-11 stands at Rs 8.5 billion, the increased demand has also been made relying on the coverage of the Commonwealth Games which went off without a hitch but failed to yield the expected revenue, partly because commercial advertisements were banned for the closing ceremony.

In actual terms, the amount sought is much more than double, since a sum of Rs 3.185 billion was for the Commonwealth Games 2010 out of the total plan allocation of Rs 8.5 billion for 2010-11, thus leaving only Rs 5.315 billion for other programmes.

The Ministry has said it plans to utilise 70 per cent amount to fund the expansion requirements of Prasar Bharati. The plan is to use around Rs 12 billion on Prasar Bharati, out of its demand for Rs 17 billion.


The funds will be used to enhance the capacity of its DTH service DD Direct Plus and convert more channels into High Definition (HD).

Following the new plans for judging viewership, acquisition of software to increase the viewership of Doordarshan is also one of the reasons behind more funds, sources said.

The Ministry also wants to spend around Rs 5 billion on the films and information sectors to undertake the completion of ongoing projects including the construction and expansion of National Press Centre, Soochna Bhawan, Global Films School, National Film Heritage Mission, new Indian Institutes of Mass Communication, a Centre for Animation and Gaming, and the Museum of the Moving Image.

The effort is to complete all film-related projects by 2013 which marks the centenary of the advent of cinema in India.

The publicity of the UPA Government’s flagship programmes will also receive greater attention, with the UPA II expected to complete almost three years of terms in office by March 2012.

 

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