Air India’s bill for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips has so far amounted to Rs 443.4 crore. The bill for five more trips by the PM is yet to be made by the airline, reported Hindustan Times.
Air India is the official airline for PM Modi’s trips overseas and has flown him 44 times since he took over the position in May 2014. This is more than any of his predecessors, data from the Prime Minister’s Office showed, according to Hindustan Times.
These travel costs include fuel, cost of hiring the entire aircraft, and cost related to crew. Other costs such as those incurred at the destination are not counted in this.
Despite having travelled to more countries, Modi has incurred a lower bill than his predecessor Manmohan Singh, who made 38 trips overseas in his second term, at an expenditure of Rs 493.22 crore.
One reason for this could be that Modi targets multiple destinations in one trip. In his first interview to Hindustan Times after taking over his PM, Modi had said he believes in “single ticket, double journey”.
Modi reportedly travelled to six countries on a single trip, visiting Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 2015. Sixteen of his trips have been to multiple countries. In comparison, Singh travelled mostly to two or three countries.
Another reason could be that Modi took six trips on the business jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) , incurring no additional expense. He visited Nepal, Bangladesh, Iran and Singapore in the IAF’s Boeing 737 business jet, which is used round the year for VVIP travel. However, in Singh’s tenure, AI India One was used even on shorter trips to Bangladesh and Singapore, the report said.
Modi’s trips are likely to end up costing more once the five other trips are billed by Air India. There is also one more trip pending to the UAE, where Modi will be given the UAE’s highest civilian award for the role he has played in strengthening bilateral strategic ties. However, the average is still likely to remain lower.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)
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