Budget 2023: Forthcoming polls augur extremely well for the ad industry - Arvind Mittal

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gets ready to present the Union Budget for 2023-24 on February 1, the industry is hoping for measures to be announced that will fuel overall economic growth. Budget 2023-24 is an important one as it comes a year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, and also as it comes amid a global slowdown and several geo-political tussles.

While 2022 was a year of recovery after two years of Covid disruptions, the industry is looking forward to consolidating the gains from 2022 this year and witnessing growth across sectors.

Arvind Mittal, MD & CEO, Mouli’s Advertising Service, expects Union Budget 2023 to give a boost to the communications, advertising and publicity industry, in that the government as well as corporates are expected to use various tools to increase their public outreach in a run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Mittal noted, “The last 2 years have seen rapid increase in the consumer spending on variety of items ranging from real estate and automobile to travel, leisure and other smaller ticket items.”

He further said that the governments have always aided such momentum to grow with a close eye on inflation control, the recent measures by the RBI to tame the inflation are a pointer.

“In this given backdrop, and fact that the Budget 23-24 being the last full budget of the government before the 2024 general elections, one can expect numerous populist measures in the Budget which will cut taxes of various types leading to a higher disposable income in the hands of the common man leading to increased consumption or spending by the common man. In addition to this, the Budget could also launch several populist/ welfare programs which will also increase general spending,” Mittal said.

According to him, this augurs well for the communications, advertising and publicity industry as the corporates and government will use various tools to increase their public outreach.

“In addition to the fiscal and monetary incentives which one can expect, the Assembly elections in 10 States in the year 2023 and the general elections in 2024 augurs extremely well for the advertising industry, where each segment – Print, Electronic, Digital, OOH, and ground level Activation –   can expect a substantial business,” he added.

Mittal felt that the next 12-18 months could be the watershed moment for the advertising industry, where it can wipe out all its past tears and can have smiles all the way.