MEA details ₹362 crore spent on PM Modi’s global trips, US visit tops expenditure list

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have cost the Indian exchequer over ₹362 crore since 2021, with ₹295 crore spent between 2021 and 2024, and ₹67 crore on five trips in 2025 so far. This data was shared by the Ministry of External Affairs in Parliament in response to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.

In 2025 alone, ₹25.5 crore was spent on Modi’s visit to France, ₹16.5 crore on the United States, ₹15.5 crore on Saudi Arabia, ₹4.9 crore on Thailand, and ₹4.4 crore on Sri Lanka. Bills for nine additional visits undertaken this year are still pending. The MEA clarified that all trips were part of official international engagements, including summits, diaspora meets, and bilateral discussions.

Among all destinations since 2021, the United States tops the list with ₹74.44 crore spent across four visits, followed by France (₹41.29 crore) and Japan (₹32.96 crore). The year-wise breakdown shows ₹36 crore spent in 2021, ₹55 crore in 2022, ₹93 crore in 2023, and ₹100 crore in 2024.

Additionally, ₹1.03 crore was spent on publicity and media coverage of the Prime Minister’s events abroad. Delegation size varied across visits, with as many as 145 officials traveling in 2024 and 85 in 2023. The data has raised fresh debate over the scale and frequency of official foreign travel by India’s highest executive.