Budget for I&B hiked by nearly 17 pc

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry was today allocated Rs 3711.11 crore in Union Budget 2015-16, nearly 17 per cent more than the revised estimates of Rs 3176.80 crore for 2014-15.
Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been allocated a major share of I&B ministry's budget with Rs 2,869.55 crore earmarked as total grants-in-aid to Prasar Bharati.
Of this, Rs 45 crore are meant for the Doordarshan's Kisan channel which is expected to be launched soon.
In the last budget, the I&B ministry had been allocated a sum of Rs 3,316 crore. Amongst other heads, Rs 130.69 crore have been earmarked for Films while Rs 7.68 crore have been kept for certification of Cinematographic Films.

The budget has also alloted Rs 10.41 crore for its Electronic Media Monitoring Centre.
Amongst new initiatives, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed to set up a Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh, for the North-Eastern States.