The government had also roped in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador to promote GST and inform people about its benefits. (Photo: Indiatoday.in)

An amount of Rs 132.38 crore was spent by the government on advertisements for GST (goods and services tax) on print media, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said in a reply to a RTI query.

The government spent more than five crores on advertisements with outdoor media. The government had also roped in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador to promote GST and inform people about its benefits.

As per the RTI response dated August 9, Bureau of Outreach and Communication under the ministry said the "expenditure on GST advertisements through this bureau" on print media stood at Rs 1,26,93,97,121.

It, however, said there was "nil" expenditure for the same on electronic media.

The Goods and Services Tax was implemented on July 1, 2017. Ahead of its roll out, the Centre had gone for a media blitz to create awareness about the new tax regime. It comprehends a number of indirect taxes like excise, service tax, VAT and similar levies.

Days ahead of the implementation, the government started coming out with full-page advertisement in leading dailies explaining various procedures and processes to be followed by industry for complying with GST rules.

The total revenue earned by the central government and the state governments after settlement including provisional settlement of Rs 12,000 crore in August, 2018, is Rs 36,963 crore for CGST (central GST) and Rs 41,136 crore for the SGST (state GST).

(With inputs from PTI)

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