Nearly ₹550 crore have been spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's overseas visits since 2021, government said in a reply to Parliament.
Of this ₹180 crore was incurred on PM Modi's visit to 23 countries including the US, the UK, France, China and Japan in 2025, according to the government data.
So far in 2026, the expenditure of PM Modi's foreign visits has reached over ₹74.58 crore, Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita informed the Rajya Sabha.
In the written reply, Margherita stated that the highest expenditure among the visits for which figures are available this year was incurred during the Norway leg of the Prime Minister's five-nation tour in May at ₹17.46 crore.
According to the reply, expenditure on the Prime Minister's foreign visits was over ₹180 crore in 2025, ₹109 crore in 2024, ₹93 crore in 2023, ₹55 crore in 2022 and ₹36 crore in 2021. The Ministry also noted that several expenditure figures for 2026 are provisional and will be finalised after settlement of bills, while expenditure for the France visit in June is still being compiled.
In 2026 so far, nearly ₹74.58 crore have been spent on PM foreign visits, according to the country-wise and year-wise data shared in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. This includes the visit undertaken to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand from July 6 to July 11.
In their query, Rajya Sabha members Sanjay Singh and V Sivadasan asked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for country-wise details of the foreign visits undertaken by the prime minister since 2021; and the total expenditure incurred on such visits since 2021, year-wise and visit-wise.
Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita shared the data in an annexure attached with his response.
"The details of foreign visits undertaken by the Prime Minister since 2021 and total expenditure incurred on each foreign visit, year-wise and visit-wise are placed at Annexure-I. For reference purposes, expenditure on Prime Minister's foreign visits earlier was INR 10,74,27,363 (USA, 2011), INR 9,95,76,890 (Russia, 2013), INR 8,33,49,463 (France, 2011) and INR 6,02,23,484 (Germany, 2013). These figures show actual expenditure without adjusting for inflation or currency fluctuations," he said.
According to the data, nearly ₹187 crore was incurred on Prime Minister Modi's visit to various countries in 2025.
The expenditure on visit to individual countries last year stood as -- France ( ₹25,59,82,902), the US ( ₹16,54,84,302), Saudi Arabia ( ₹15,54,03,792.47), Brazil( ₹17,72,22,144), China ( ₹10,59,90,561) and the UK ( ₹9,91,55,061.39) among other countries.
Other countries that Modi visited in 2025 include Mauritius, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Canada, Croatia, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Namibia, Maldives, Japan, Bhutan, South Africa, Jordan, Oman and Ethiopia.
In July 2025, the government had also shared data on the prime minister's foreign visits in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha, according to which the total expenditure figures related to his foreign trips from 2021 till 2024 stood at nearly ₹295 crore.
The cumulative figures for the other four years are about ₹109 crore (2024) spanning 16 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, the US and Brazil nearly 93 crore (2023), ₹55.82 crore (2022) and about ₹36 crore (2021).
In 2021, PM Modi visited Bangladesh ( ₹1,00,71,288), the US ( ₹19,63,27,806), Italy ( ₹6,90,49,376) and the UK ( ₹8,57,41,408), according to the data.
The MEA was also asked the country-wise details of bilateral agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed during these visits, the investment commitments announced and the actual Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received in India as a result thereof.
"High level visits by the Prime Minister are established means of fostering closer relations with foreign countries and promoting India's engagements at bilateral, regional and global levels. These visits, and the understandings and agreements concluded therein facilitate the strengthening of partnerships across a wide range of sectors, including technology, innovation, trade and investment, defence and energy cooperation, and resilient supply chains, among others," Margherita said.
In his 35-page response, he also shared country-wise details of MoUs signed during these visits in a separate annexure, adding the "total FDI received during April 2021-December 2025 period was USD 381.8 billion".
The number of MoUs signed during the prime minister's foreign visits since July 2021 stood at 316, according to the reply.
(With agency inputs)
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.<br><br> Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.<br><br> Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.<br><br> Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.<br><br> Jeelani is a Bachelor's in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
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