SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have cost the government around Rs 557.5 crore since 2021, with expenditure peaking at Rs 187.8 crore in 2025, according to details provided by the Ministry of External Affairs in the Rajya Sabha.
The expenditure figures, contained in an answer to an unstarred question by MPs Sanjay Singh and V. Sivadasan, cover foreign visits undertaken by the Prime Minister from 2021 through the visits listed for 2026. Some bills for the latest visits are still under settlement, meaning the 2026 figure is not final.
The data shows that expenditure on the Prime Minister’s foreign travel rose from Rs 36.12 crore in 2021 to Rs 55.83 crore in 2022, Rs 93.63 crore in 2023 and Rs 109.51 crore in 2024. It increased sharply to Rs 187.83 crore in 2025.
For 2026, expenditure on the foreign visits listed up to July stands at about Rs 74.59 crore, although the ministry said the final figures for several countries would be known only after settlement of all bills.
The highest expenditure on an individual country visit among the figures disclosed was Rs 25.60 crore for the Prime Minister’s visit to France in February 2025, followed by Rs 22.90 crore spent on his visit to the United States in June 2023.
The US visit in September 2021 cost Rs 19.63 crore, while the Brazil leg of the Prime Minister’s multi-country tour in July 2025 cost Rs 17.72 crore. His visit to Norway in May 2026 had an expenditure of Rs 17.47 crore, though the final figure is still subject to settlement of bills.
The ministry’s figures show that the Prime Minister undertook extensive foreign travel in 2025, visiting France, the US, Mauritius, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Canada, Croatia, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Namibia, the UK, Maldives, China, Japan, Bhutan, South Africa, Jordan, Oman and Ethiopia.
In 2024, the Prime Minister travelled to a similarly wide range of destinations, including the UAE, Qatar, Bhutan, Italy, Russia, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, the US, Laos, Nigeria, Brazil, Guyana and Kuwait.
The government also provided expenditure figures for earlier Prime Ministerial foreign visits for comparison. It said the actual expenditure was Rs 10.74 crore for the 2011 US visit, Rs 9.96 crore for the 2013 Russia visit, Rs 8.33 crore for the 2011 France visit and Rs 6.02 crore for the 2013 Germany visit. The figures have not been adjusted for inflation or currency fluctuations.
Responding to a question on the outcome of the foreign visits, Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita said high-level visits by the Prime Minister were an established means of fostering closer relations with foreign countries and promoting India’s bilateral, regional and global engagements.
According to the ministry, the understandings and agreements concluded during these visits have helped strengthen partnerships in sectors including technology, innovation, trade and investment, defence, energy and resilient supply chains.
The ministry said country-wise details of memoranda of understanding signed during the visits had been provided in a separate annexure.
However, in response to a specific query on investment commitments announced during the visits and the actual FDI received in India as a result of them, the ministry did not provide a country-wise attribution of FDI. It instead stated that India received total FDI of USD 381.8 billion during the period April 2021 to December 2025.
The government’s response therefore gives the overall FDI inflow during the period but does not establish how much of that investment can be directly attributed to individual Prime Ministerial visits, agreements or investment commitments announced during them.
The expenditure figures for 2026 also remain provisional for several destinations, including the UAE, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the Slovak Republic, Seychelles, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, with the ministry stating that final amounts would be available after settlement of all bills.
