Locations · Varanasi · Advertising
Advertisingin Varanasi
Four FM stations, Hindi dailies and a strict 2025 outdoor rulebook shape every Varanasi ad plan. PromotEdge books nothing until the rule and the rate are checked.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
Read the city's rules first,then book the media.
In Varanasi the corporation's 2025 outdoor rules decide what an ad may do, so an advertising agency in Varanasi earns its fee by reading them before it books anything. PromotEdge plans and books Hindi press, FM, vehicle and event ads, and licensed boards, for hotels, silk and handloom traders, shops and schools, then counts the enquiries each one brings.
This page covers only what is different about Varanasi. Our advertising service page explains how we plan mainline media anywhere. Outdoor, or OOH (out of home), means hoardings, boards and other ads that people pass or wait beside. The Varanasi overview covers the wider plan.
Where our team sits and how we plan and review each campaign.
How we work with you in Varanasi
A plain fact first: our servicing team is based in cities across India, and most of the work runs online, in hybrid mode. We have worked with Indian brands since 2015. We speak daily by call and video, and we visit you in Varanasi at least once every three months, to see the shop, guest house or classroom. When a job needs it, a team member works from your site.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
Six jobs,one plan.
Hindi press ads
Jagran, Hindustan, Amar Ujala or Hindustan Times, chosen by edition and day. Our language partners write the Hindi ad in Hindi from the start, and our team checks it.
02FM and Akashvani spots
Which of the four private stations, whether to add Akashvani's two Varanasi lines, and which hours. A script is timed for its spot, so a 20-second idea is never squeezed into 10.
03Boards with the corporation's licence
Area grade, board type and licence length are checked first, and you see the paper before you pay. Mounting and printing are delivered through PEXORA, a joint venture of PromotEdge and Prodigy.
04Vehicle and road-show ads
Autos, light and heavy vehicles by the year, and road shows by the day. We confirm the licence and the rate before a vehicle is booked.
05Online ads that catch the search
A Hindi paper or an FM spot makes people curious, so they search. Google search ads and Meta ads put your name there, beside a listing with the right phone and hours.
06Proof and an enquiry count
Rates in writing before you agree. Then a copy of each printed ad, plus station logs and dated site photos, with enquiries counted by medium. What can't be measured can't be achieved.
Five facts that shape a Varanasi media plan.
Each comes from a public source, checked on 4 October 2026. The first two are here. Three more are in the fold below.
1. A new rulebook covers every board. The city corporation's advertisement bye-laws appeared in the UP Gazette on 18 October 2025 and apply across the corporation area. Licences already given through e-tender keep their old terms until they end. Every rupee figure on this page is the corporation's, not ours.
2. Four FM stations and Hindi dailies carry the city. The government's list of 30 March 2026 shows four private FM stations for Varanasi. The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) audits paper sales. It lists Dainik Jagran, Hindustan and Amar Ujala in Hindi, and Hindustan Times in English, with Varanasi editions.
Three more facts: moving ads, agency registration and short pushes, with the corporation's figures.
The Varanasi market for advertising
3. Moving ads pay by the vehicle and the day. The bye-laws set Rs 12,000 a year for an auto-rickshaw ad, Rs 25,000 for a light vehicle and Rs 50,000 for a heavy one. Road shows pay by the day, from Rs 150 for a hand rickshaw to Rs 2,000 for a six-wheeler. A digital display on the vehicle costs 100% more. These are the corporation's rates, not ours. Our transit advertising page explains when a moving ad beats a fixed board.
4. Agencies must register. An agency registers each financial year, at Rs 60,000, Rs 40,000 or Rs 25,000 by grade, plus a deposit. The registration money is not refundable. So ask who holds the registration for the board you are paying for, and see the paper first.
5. Short pushes pay by the day. Handbills cost Rs 2,000 per thousand, a banner Rs 300 a day and a canopy Rs 500 a day. A short-term licence runs up to 3 months and costs double the hoarding rate. A shop with a festival sale should count its days before it prints, because every day has a price.
What is on offer,and what the corporation allows.
Varanasi has four private FM stations, four daily papers and a 2025 outdoor rulebook that prices boards, vehicles, road shows and handbills. Every rupee figure is the corporation's, not ours, and the area grade of the site sets the rate.
See the numbers and sources
| Item | What the public record says | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| The bye-laws, step by step | The municipal house approved them on 9 June 2025. A 15-day public notice ran from 17 July 2025. The final version passed on 17 August 2025, and the UP Gazette published it on 18 October 2025. | We quote only from this text, and we say so in the quote. |
| Boards by type | Per square foot per year, in A, B and C areas. Single-pole boards: Rs 170, 165, 160. Traffic guard, flower pot or public-amenity boards: Rs 180, 175, 170. Centre pole, bus shelter, traffic island or gantry: Rs 190, 185, 180. LED screens: Rs 600. | A site's type and grade come before its price. Ask for both in writing. |
| Where the grades fall | A includes the Sigra, Rathyatra, Maldahiya, Lahurabir, Maidagin and Godowlia crossings, Sonarpura, Assi to the BHU Lanka gate, Durgakund and Bhelupur. B includes Chaukaghat, Lahartara, Rajghat to Namo Ghat, Ramnagar Fort to Ramnagar crossing and Sarnath. The place names are English spellings of the gazette's Hindi. | We name the grade of each site in the plan, and we check it against the gazette. |
| Vehicle ads, per year | Auto-rickshaw Rs 12,000, light vehicle Rs 25,000, heavy vehicle Rs 50,000. A digital or electronic display on the vehicle costs 100% more. | Compare a vehicle with a board for the same reach before you pick. |
| Road shows, per day | Hand rickshaw Rs 150, three-wheeler Rs 300, four-wheeler Rs 1,000, six-wheeler Rs 2,000. | Good for a launch week. We fix the route and the licence first. |
| Handbills, banners and more | Handbills Rs 2,000 per thousand. Banner (pataka) Rs 300 a day. Balloons Rs 1,000 a day. Canopy Rs 500 a day per 45 sq ft or part. Loudspeaker box Rs 300 a day. Festivals, fairs, exhibitions and circuses pay at least 3 months of fee. | Count the days of a short push before you print. |
| Licence periods | An annual licence runs at most one year or to 31 March, whichever comes first. A short-term licence runs up to 3 months, costs double the hoarding rate and is paid in advance. Under BOT or PPP contracts (build-operate-transfer and public-private partnership), the corporation can allow 3 to 7 years. | Match the licence to the campaign, so you do not pay for months you will not use. |
| Taking a board down | If material stays up more than 24 hours after expiry, the fee is charged at double the A-grade rate for each day. | A removal date goes into the plan, and a person is named to confirm it. |
| Agencies | Registration lasts one financial year and is not refundable. By grade A, B and C it costs Rs 60,000, 40,000 and 25,000, plus a deposit of Rs 2,00,000, 1,50,000 and 1,00,000. Renewal is due within seven days of the year's start. | Ask who holds the registration for the grade you need, and see the paper. |
| Fees over time | Fee rates rise by up to 10% after every two financial years. Ads on corporation property pay rent of at least 50% of the licence fee. Renting a corporation unipole or bus shelter costs at least 100% of the licence fee on top. Fees are paid in advance. | A multi-year board is priced with the rise in mind. |
| Unlicensed vehicles and road shows | At least one month at the licence rate, plus a fine: auto-rickshaw Rs 5,000, light vehicle Rs 10,000, heavy vehicle Rs 20,000. Road shows: hand rickshaw Rs 2,000, three-wheeler Rs 10,000, four-wheeler Rs 15,000, six-wheeler Rs 30,000. | No vehicle of ours or a partner's runs without the paper in hand. |
| Who decides a site | A technical committee headed by the Municipal Commissioner decides site, size and height. Members include the corporation's chief engineer, the Varanasi Development Authority secretary and the traffic police. Near highways, an NHAI representative joins. | We bring the site drawing and the owner's consent to the first application. |
| Other rules | Plastic banned by the environment department cannot be used. Ads cannot be fixed to trees. Cloth or flag boards are capped at 10 sq m. The Commissioner can suspend a licence early in the public interest. | We choose paper, cloth and fixing methods that meet these rules. |
| Where ads are barred | Ordinary ads are barred from three stretches, including Godowlia to Dashashwamedh and Rajendra Prasad Ghat. All ads are banned within 100 m of the Kashi Vishwanath and Kal Bhairav temples. | No board is planned in a barred zone. Search and press do that job there. |
| Radio lines | Private FM: 91.9, 93.5, 95.0 and 98.3 MHz (30 March 2026 list). Akashvani: a primary channel at 1242 kHz and Vividh Bharati at 100.6 MHz. | Pick by listener and hour, then compare each station's written rate. |
| Kashi ropeway | Wikipedia says it will run 3.75 km from Varanasi Cantt to Godowlia Chowk with 5 stations. It was still under construction in June 2026, with planned completion on 24 November 2026. | We found no advertising rules for it. We would ask the operator in writing once it opens. |
Rows checked against their sources on 4 October 2026. The bye-law rows come from the Uttar Pradesh Gazette of 18 October 2025, and the rupee figures were re-checked against its text. Naming a paper, station or body does not make it our partner. The rows are not legal advice.
Our beliefWe believe in process. Good results should repeat, not happen by luck.
From first callto counted enquiries.
The full steps are in the fold below.
- 01
Start with the buyer
Who buys from you, where they walk or wait, which paper or station they use, and your key date.
- 02
Check the rules
Each board's area grade, its type and the length of the run, read from the corporation's bye-laws before any rate goes into a quote.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
The rest of the steps, from choosing the media to counting what came back.
How the work runs in Varanasi
Choose the media
The Hindi papers and stations that fit your buyer, and outdoor only on sites with a licence we can show. Vehicle and road-show ads are priced against a fixed board for the same reach.
Write, then book
One idea, written fresh in Hindi by our language partners, and sized for each paper and each spot. Think creative. Act on numbers. Nothing is booked before your yes.
Count what came back
A phone number, QR code or offer code used nowhere else, for each medium. Your report shows the cost per enquiry from each.
What affects the cost of advertising in Varanasi.
We keep our rates off this page by choice. After one conversation we write the scope and quote against it. Licence fees, space, airtime, printing and mounting are billed at the owner's or the corporation's figure, shown before you approve.
What affects the cost
- Language: Hindi, English or both; each adds a script and sometimes a paper
- Papers and radio: which dailies and which day; how many of the four private stations, and whether Akashvani is added
- Outdoor: the area grade, the board type and the length of the licence set the corporation's fee
- Timing: your sale or festival dates decide how early we book
How we quote
- A first call and a written media plan naming each paper, station and site, with reasons
- The licence type and area grade of each board, checked against the bye-laws before it enters the quote
- A written line-by-line quote within 2 working days of that first call, which you can approve, trim or turn down
What you get in the quote
- Each paper, edition, ad size and date
- Each station, time band and spot count
- Each outdoor site, its area grade and the licence on file
How it is billed
| Way of working | When it fits |
|---|---|
| Season burst | One push, such as a festival sale or an admission drive; timeline confirmed in the quote |
| Monthly retainer | Releases through the year, with a monthly enquiry report; minimum 3 months, 30 days' notice to stop |
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Related pages.
The expertise that fits your business, and the places we work.
In their own words
“An aligned partner is always a welcoming step. Someone who can think deep through lines, understand the matrix of product management. Fortunate enough, PromotEdge has been a partner in progress for me. …”
Bobby SrinivasChief Manager Marketing & Brand Marketing at Utkarsh India“As a progressive and emerging digital marketing company, PromotEdge is doing something right to enhance the experience of companies associated with them. …”
Anish Basu MallikMarketing Executive at Unimark Group“PRAN & PromotEdge have been working together for last 1.5 years. Throughout, the work experience is good and satisfactory. As a client, we found PromotEdge very professional and dedicated towards any project assigned to them. …”
Sharif Rezwan KabirBrand Manager at PRAN RFL GroupTell us your sale dates.We'll show what Varanasi media can do by then.
Straight answers.
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Our servicing team is based in cities across India, and most of the work runs online, in hybrid mode. Calls and shared reports keep us in touch every day, and we meet you in Varanasi at least once every three months. When a job needs it, a team member works from your site.
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Yes, with the corporation's licence. The 2025 bye-laws charge auto-rickshaw ads by the year and road shows by the day. An unlicensed vehicle pays at least one month's fee plus a fine. We confirm the licence and the rate before any vehicle is booked, and you see the paper. General guidance, not legal advice.
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It depends on the station, the hour, the spot length and the weeks on air. The government card of 1 June 2017 lists Akashvani's primary channel for Varanasi at Rs 500 or Rs 300 per 10-second spot. Vividh Bharati is Rs 390, Rs 330 or Rs 280. The four private stations quote their own rates, in writing.
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Three Hindi papers have Varanasi editions with the ABC: Dainik Jagran, Hindustan and Amar Ujala. We can't rank them without numbers. So we ask each paper for its reach in your area on your day, then run a small test and compare the cost of each enquiry.
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The 2025 bye-laws price handbills at Rs 2,000 per thousand and a banner at Rs 300 a day. Fairs and exhibitions pay for at least 3 months. These are the corporation's rates, not ours. Banned plastic cannot be used, and nothing may be tied to a tree. General guidance, not legal advice.
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Ask every agency, including us, three things. Which Hindi paper or station suits my buyer, and why? Can you show the corporation's licence and area grade for each board? Will my report count enquiries by medium? Pick the one with plain answers, and ask for them in writing.