Indian politicians are expected to spend around $5 billion on campaigning for elections next month- a sum second only to the most expensive US presidential campaign of all time – in a splurge that could give India’s floundering economy a temporary boost. India’s campaign spend, which can include cash stuffed in envelopes as well as multi-million-dollar ad campaigns, has been estimated at Rs 30,000 crore ($4.9 billion) by the Centre for Media Studies, which tracks spending. The campaign spending for this election could give a boost to the economy, which has been heading for its longest slump since the 1980s. Economists have forecast a second year of growth below 5 per cent in the financial year ending this month. India’s projected campaign spending is only rivalled by the $7 billion spent by candidates, parties and support groups in the 2012 U.S. presidential race, the world’s most expensive, according to data provided by the US election commission. Spending on previous Indian elections has benefited a wide range of businesses, from media groups and advertisers that rake in campaign-ad revenues to consumer-based firms that capitalise indirectly on the overall jump in spending, such as motor-bike manufacturers and brewers like United Spirits. India’s advertising industry expects to see an $800 million injection during the election season, according to an outlook by the country’s largest local agency, Madison Media. That should benefit media firms, such as DB Corp, which owns the high-circulation Hindi language daily Dainik Bhaskar.

(Business Today)