PM Modi's foreign trips in 2015 cost Rs 517.82 crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited 58 nations in the year 2015 costing the exchequer Rs 517.82 crore, the government said on Tuesday.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in Rajya Sabha that some major MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) were signed during PM Modi's visits to these countries. The said agreements were signed in the areas of defence, investment, trade, and technology.

"PM visited 58 countries in 2015 which cost Rs 517.82 crore. During this visit, major MoUs were signed," the MEA said.

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The Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had in March this year informed Lok Sabha that the Centre had incurred an expenditure of Rs 446.52 crore on PM Modi's foreign visits in the last five years.

Giving out a detailed breakup of the trips, Muraleedharan said that the highest expenditure of Rs 121.85 crore was incurred in 2015-16 and the lowest was Rs 78.52 crore in 2016-17.

Breaking down the expenditure details of 2019-20, the ministry said that government spent Rs 46.23 crore in that year but also informed that the figure was likely to go up as bills for some of the prime minister's visits were not yet received.

A total of Rs 99.90 crore was spent in 2017-18 albeit the amount went up to Rs 100.02 crore in the following year- 2018-19.

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Meanwhile, PM Modi will take all his future trips on a VVIP aircraft - Air India One, a highly customised wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ER. The government has ordered two such aircraft to fly the prime minister, the president, and other senior dignitaries of the country.

The first plane, which was scheduled to land in Delhi on August 25 has been delayed owing to certain operational issues.

The two aircraft are currently being customised in the United States and will replace the nearly 25-year-old Air India One planes of the Boeing 747 fleet.

The new Special Extra Section Flight (SESF) or VVIP aircraft 'Air India One' will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF).