India's advertising market had a big year in 2025, and digital took almost all of the growth. That's great news for platforms. For a growing business trying to be noticed, it's more complicated.
The FICCI-EY report, released in March 2026, found India's media and entertainment sector grew 9% to ₹2.78 trillion in 2025, and advertising grew about 13.5% to roughly ₹1.5 trillion. Digital advertising rose 26% to ₹947 billion, about two-thirds of the total, and more than one million SMEs spent ₹363 billion on digital ads. More reach also means more competition and noise, so execution, brand and ownership matter more than budget.
- India's media and entertainment sector grew 9% to ₹2.78 trillion in 2025; digital crossed ₹1 trillion (FICCI-EY).
- Advertising grew about 13.5% to roughly ₹1.5 trillion; digital ads rose 26% to ₹947 billion, about two-thirds of the total.
- E-commerce and point-of-sale ads grew 50% to ₹220 billion; linear TV ad revenue fell 10%.
- Over one million SMEs and long-tail advertisers spent ₹363 billion on digital ads, intensifying competition.
- In a noisier market, execution, brand, regional-language search and ownership are the edge, not budget.
What did the FICCI-EY report find?
The FICCI-EY report "Stories, scale and impact: Unlocking India's media and entertainment economy", released in March 2026, found India's media and entertainment sector grew 9% to ₹2.78 trillion in 2025. Digital media became the largest segment, crossing ₹1 trillion for the first time (FICCI-EY, March 2026).
Advertising grew faster than the sector as a whole: about 13.5% to roughly ₹1.5 trillion (the report's summary rounds it to 13%), equal to 0.41% of India's GDP. And almost all of that growth was digital.
Growth in Indian advertising by segment, 2025
Where the growth came from
- Digital advertising grew 26% to ₹947 billion, about two-thirds of all ad revenue.
- E-commerce and point-of-sale advertising, ads on shopping and delivery platforms, grew 50% to ₹220 billion, already equal to 85% of linear TV ad revenue.
- Small advertisers are a big part of the story: more than one million SMEs and long-tail advertisers spent ₹363 billion on digital ads.
- Out-of-home grew 13%, with digital screens now 18% of the segment, up from 7% in 2023.
- Linear TV advertising fell 10%, and radio revenue fell 7%. Print ad revenue grew 2%.
FICCI-EY expects the wider sector to reach ₹3.3 trillion by 2028, growing at over 7% a year, with new media making up more than half of industry revenue (FICCI-EY, March 2026).
Is that good news for your business?
It depends which side of the auction you're on. A bigger, more digital market means:
- More reach than ever. Your customers are online, on more platforms, for more hours. That's the opportunity.
- More competition for the same attention. A million small businesses bidding on Google, Meta and marketplaces push prices up. Globally, Meta's average price per ad rose 14% year on year in Q3 2026 (Meta, Oct 2026).
- More noise. More ads, more content and more channels make it harder to be remembered.
The same pattern shows up in global budgets. Gartner found paid media now takes 30.6% of marketing budgets while media inflation means each dollar buys less (Gartner, 2025). We go deeper in Paid media takes 30.6% of budgets and buys less every year.
What it means for growing Indian businesses
1. Digital is the default, so execution is the edge
When two-thirds of advertising is digital, being online isn't an advantage. How well you run it is: creative, targeting, landing pages, follow-up and measurement. That's capability, not budget.
2. Marketplaces are becoming ad platforms
If you sell through e-commerce, food delivery or quick commerce, a growing share of your marketing will happen inside those platforms. Treat their ad tools as a channel with its own budget and reporting.
3. Search is changing as fast as ads
Indian search is going multilingual and conversational. Google added seven Indian languages, including Telugu and Kannada, to AI Mode in October 2025 and says India is its largest market for voice and visual search (Google India, Oct 2025). Content that answers real questions in the customer's language matters more each year. See Google's AI summaries nearly halve clicks.
4. Brand makes every ad cheaper
In a noisy market, people click on and buy from names they already know. Brand building isn't a luxury for small businesses; it's how you stop paying full price for every customer. Read Myth: brand building is a waste for small businesses.
5. Own what you build
As more of your growth runs through digital channels, who owns the accounts, data and know-how matters more. If it all sits with an agency, a bigger market just makes you more dependent. Start with the 10-point ownership audit.
How to cut through: a checklist
| Area | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Channels | Are we where our customers are, including marketplaces, WhatsApp and regional-language search? |
| Creative | Do our ads say something specific that competitors can't? |
| Conversion | Does every click land on a page that answers the obvious questions? |
| Follow-up | Do we reply to every enquiry within minutes? |
| Brand | Would a customer recognise our name before they need us? |
| Measurement | Do we know cost per customer by channel, from our own data? |
| Ownership | Do we own our accounts, data and playbook? |
A Hyderabad home-decor brand sees its Instagram costs rise as more local competitors advertise. Rather than outspend them, it lists on two marketplaces with sponsored product ads, builds a WhatsApp list of past buyers for new-collection launches, and runs fewer, sharper Instagram ads aimed only at people who've visited its site.
Total spend stays flat. The share of sales from repeat customers and marketplaces grows, and Instagram goes back to doing what it does best: reminding warm audiences.
A bigger market means more noise. The businesses that grow are the ones with the capability to cut through it.
How Ad Asthra helps you cut through
We help growing Indian businesses build marketing capability that wins on execution, not just spend.
Frequently asked questions
How big is India's advertising market?
The FICCI-EY report found Indian advertising grew about 13.5% in 2025 to roughly ₹1.5 trillion, equal to 0.41% of GDP, within a media and entertainment sector worth ₹2.78 trillion.
How much of Indian advertising is digital?
About two-thirds. Digital advertising grew 26% to ₹947 billion in 2025, according to FICCI-EY, and digital media crossed ₹1 trillion as a segment for the first time.
What is e-commerce and point-of-sale advertising?
Ads on shopping, delivery and quick-commerce platforms. FICCI-EY found it grew 50% to ₹220 billion in 2025, already equal to 85% of linear TV ad revenue.
Is TV advertising declining in India?
Linear TV advertising fell 10% in 2025, according to FICCI-EY, though TV still reaches about 745 million people weekly and connected TVs grew to about 40 million units.
What does India's ad market growth mean for small businesses?
More reach, but more competition: over one million SMEs and long-tail advertisers spent ₹363 billion on digital ads in 2025. Execution, brand and ownership of your marketing matter more than ever.
What's the forecast for India's media and entertainment sector?
FICCI-EY expects it to reach ₹3.3 trillion by 2028, growing at over 7% a year, with new media making up more than half of revenue.
How does Ad Asthra help Indian businesses grow?
We build in-house marketing capability through BOT, provide fractional CMO leadership through BOM, audit channel mix and budgets through Advisory & Governance, and give you one view of performance through our AI Suite.
Sources
- India's media and entertainment sector grew 9 percent to INR 2.78 trillion in 2025, driven by digital and live experiences: FICCI-EY report, EY India, 24 March 2026
- Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Flatlined at 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue, Gartner, 12 May 2025
- Meta Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results, Meta Platforms, 21 October 2026
- Supercharging Search for India: New languages in AI Mode and Search Live debuts, Google India, 8 October 2025
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