In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, tabled the data which listed 37 financial institutions and government departments, out of which 32 institutions had spent more on Hindi and English advertisements between 2014 and 2017. SBI, the country’s biggest bank with most customers spent Rs 427.87 crore on Hindi advertisements, Rs 194.92 crore on English and just Rs 131.37 crore on regional languages. Similar is the case with LIC.
Institutions which spent more on regional language ads include Canara Bank, Indian Bank, National Insurance Company Ltd and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Out of the 29 States in the country, only 11 States have Hindi as an official language.
