Meta's (Formerly Facebook) India Revenue Up 16% To Rs 1,485 Crore In FY21

Meta's (formerly Facebook) total income in India grew 16 per cent year-on-year to about Rs 1,485 crore in 2020-21, while its net profit dipped 6 per cent to Rs 128 crore, as per regulatory documents.

Its gross ad revenue saw a 41 per cent jump to Rs 9,326 crore for the fiscal ended March 2021, as per a filing with the Registrar of Companies, showed.

Meta's total income in India stood at about Rs 1,277 crore, while its net profit was at Rs 136 crore in FY20.

 When contacted, a Meta spokesperson said India's dramatic shift to digital continues. 

"During the pandemic, we have noticed a bigger shift towards digital - not just in consumers adopting digital tools for their everyday needs, but also deeply engaging with businesses and brands online.

 "As the country grappled with an extended period of lockdown, businesses - large and small - relied on digital as a medium to connect with their customers," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson further stated: "We are now discovering that many of the changes in consumer behaviour triggered by the pandemic are here to stay and will continue to drive growth for digital advertising platforms, especially as savvy marketers make digital a central part of their strategy".

In addition, the social media company on Thursday launched StopNCII.org in partnership with UK Revenge Porn Helpline, to create an emergency program that allows potential victims of non-consensual intimate images (NCII) to proactively hash their intimate images to stop them from proliferating on its platforms, according to the report published in The Hindu.

Another key initiative announced was The Women’s Safety Hub to access information about tools and resources to help women to have a safe online experience. This programme will be launched in Hindi and 11 other Indian languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Kannada and Malayalam to enable easy access to information to millions of women.

These announcements come at a time when Meta formerly known as Facebook is facing flak globally for not being able to track hate speech and letting violent and even fake content pass on WhatsApp groups and its Facebook platform, the report added.

(With PTI Inputs)