Meta's ad revenue in India breaches $2 billion in FY 22

Meta India has reported gross advertising revenues of Rs 16,189 crore or around $2 billion for FY22, a rise of 74 per cent year-on-year (YoY), according to the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). In FY21, Facebook India Online Services — as the company is registered in India — had reported gross advertising revenues of Rs 9,326 crore, a jump of 41 per cent YoY.

Meta India reported total profit before tax in FY22 at Rs 440 crore, growing 116 per cent YoY, while its profit after tax grew 132 per cent YoY to Rs 297 crore, as per RoC data. Advertising is Meta’s principal source of revenue in India. The company operates on an ad reseller model in the country.

Meta's three platforms — WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram — are immensely popular with Indians. According to the IT ministry, as of February 2021, WhatsApp had 530 million users in India, Facebook had 410 million users and Instagram had 210 million users. One of its most popular properties is Reels, its short video service on Instagram. 

Meta India’s major source of income in the country is advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Recently, it launched a tie-up between WhatsApp and JioMart—which has more than 2 million merchant partners and is part of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)—to deliver groceries. 

In an exclusive interaction with Business Today recently, Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President, Global Business Group, Meta, called the partnership a “lighthouse example” for the world. “You can go into the [JioMart] catalogue, you can choose the things you want delivered and pay for it... all within WhatsApp. It’s the first time we’ve done that globally,” Mendelsohn, head of Meta’s global advertising business, said.