From Bhutan and Kuwait to Ukraine and the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s whirlwind diplomatic tours in 2024 dominated headlines. Replies to RTI queries by transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) now provide a glimpse into the cost of this 16-nation outreach.
The Modi government spent over Rs 15 crore on the prime minister’s two visits to Russia and nearly Rs 5 crore on a trip to Abu Dhabi. Though the total cost of the PM’s foreign trips remains largely undisclosed with most Indian embassies abroad yet to disclose information in response to RTI queries.
In his RTI application, Batra asked the total cost of each foreign trip, a breakdown of expenses under various heads such as accommodation, transport, and events, and whether any part of the visits was sponsored or funded by external organisations. Despite filing RTIs with all Indian embassies in the countries Modi visited, Batra has so far received responses from only two – Moscow and Abu Dhabi. “Most embassies are forwarding my RTIs to the Ministry of External Affairs instead of providing the information themselves,” he told Newslaundry.
Moscow community reception cost Rs 1.87 cr
According to the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Rs. 4.95 crore was spent on Modi’s visit to the UAE in February 2024, with the expenditure debited under the “council of ministers” budget head. RTI details from the Indian embassy in Moscow show that the PM’s two visits to Russia – Moscow in July and Kazan in October – came at a cost of over Rs 15 crore.
The July trip to Moscow cost Rs 5.12 crore, including Rs 1.81 crore for hotel arrangements, Rs 20.81 lakh for daily allowances, Rs 1.87 crore for a community reception, Rs 59.06 lakh for transport, and Rs 62.56 lakh in miscellaneous expenses.
The October visit to Kazan cost the exchequer Rs 10.24 crore, with Rs. 1.62 crore spent on hotels, Rs 25.67 lakh on daily allowances, Rs 1.79 crore on transport, and a staggering Rs 6.56 crore under miscellaneous expenses. The embassy did not indicate any external sponsorship or funding for these visits.
Batra emphasised the need for transparency, stating that taxpayers’ money must be accounted for. “It is strange that many embassies, which had provided similar details in response to my RTIs in 2015, are now denying information that should be in the public domain under the RTI Act’s proactive disclosure clauses,” he said.
Read this to understand how the PM earlier used his visits to amplify his party’s politics.
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