PM Modi's foreign trips cost Centre Rs 350 crore since 2021
Figure excludes recent visit to the UK and Maldives, pending bills
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits from 2021 to July 2025 have cost the exchequer Rs 362 crore, the Minister of State for External Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The figure does not include expenses from his recent visits to the United Kingdom and the Maldives, nor the unsettled bills.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a written reply to a question by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, shared a breakdown of expenditures incurred during the Prime Minister’s overseas trips. Among the disclosed figures for 2025, Rs 25.5 crore was spent on the visit to France, Rs 16.5 crore on the United States, Rs 4.9 crore on Thailand, Rs 4.4 crore on Sri Lanka, and Rs 15.5 crore on Saudi Arabia.
The Prime Minister also visited Mauritius, Cyprus, Canada, Croatia, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia this year, but the costs for these trips have not been included, as the bills are still under settlement.
In 2024, Modi travelled to the UAE and Qatar, with Rs 3.14 crore spent on the Qatar leg of the trip. His subsequent visit to Bhutan cost the exchequer Rs 4.5 crore. A two-day trip to Italy incurred an expenditure of Rs 14.36 crore. Visits to Austria and Russia cost Rs 4.35 crore and Rs 5.34 crore, respectively.
Of all trips listed, the France visit was the most expensive in terms of reported costs, exceeding Rs 25 crore. The Prime Minister’s 2023 visit to the United States was the second costliest, with over Rs 22 crore spent.
The MEA also provided details of publicity-related expenses, stating that over Rs 1.03 crore was spent on advertising and broadcasting the Prime Minister’s public engagements abroad. Egypt recorded the highest such expenditure at Rs 11.9 lakh, while several countries registered zero spending under this category.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
