Increased healthcare and infra spending by government to boost M&E sector: KPMG on budget

Media organisations across print, TV, cinema and outdoor were looking for a relief in the latest budget.

The government, however, decided not to address any Covid-hit sectors specifically but gave an overall boost to the economy by increasing the overall CAPEX (capital expenditure) budget.

According to KPMG, increased government spending towards healthcare and infrastructure, along with the PSU divestment programme, could inject much-needed liquidity in the embattled media and entertainment sector as well.

“While there have been no direct relief or reforms for the sector, one hopes the increased spending towards infrastructure and healthcare, along with the push for divestment and support to start-ups, is likely to increase the spending power of consumers, which in turn will help in M&E uptake,” KPMG has said in its analysis of the budget.

KPMG said the cinema industry, which has been hit severely, and is also competing with OTT platforms, was looking forward to the budget as it would have been pivotal in deciding how the sector shapes up in the future.

The analysis said the clarification on the scope and applicability of equalisation levy could have wide ramifications on the sector and its overall impact needs to be studied.

The year 2020 was devastating for India’s media sector with the adex shrinking by almost Rs 20,000 crore. Cinema, print and outdoor have been majorly hit. TV has been able to sustain its share. Digital has been a big winner because of downfall of other mediums. However, most of the spends haven’t gone to domestic publishers but to giants such as Google and Facebook.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com