₹3,000 Crore and Counting: Mapping the Cost of Prime Minister Modi’s Global Diplomacy Since 2014
By Geetha V P
When Narendra Modi assumed office as Prime Minister on May 26, 2014, foreign travel quickly became one of the most visible instruments of his government’s diplomatic outreach. From high-stakes bilateral meetings and multilateral summits to investment roadshows and diaspora engagements, these journeys have helped shape India’s presence on the world stage. They have also left a substantial imprint on the public exchequer.
The cost of such travel extends well beyond air tickets. It covers chartered flights, aircraft maintenance, secure communication systems and the complex logistics that accompany a sitting Prime Minister abroad. Because these expenses are spread across different government departments and reported under varying budget heads, no single official figure captures the entire story. Still, when parliamentary disclosures and Right to Information (RTI) responses available in the public domain are placed side by side, a clear picture emerges: the documented cost of Prime Minister Modi’s foreign travel and related infrastructure stands at approximately ₹3,096.91 crore. Depending on how related infrastructure is counted, the broader estimate often falls in the range of ₹3,000 crore to ₹3,500 crore.
The first term: a detailed accounting
The most comprehensive early disclosure came from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the Rajya Sabha in 2018. Between June 2014 and December 2018, the government reported spending ₹2,021.58 crore on the Prime Minister’s foreign travel and associated facilities.
That amount was broken down as follows:
Chartered flights: ₹429.25 crore
Aircraft maintenance: ₹1,583.18 crore
Hotline facilities: ₹9.11 crore
Aircraft maintenance dominated the ledger. This is not surprising. Maintaining aircraft used for high-level official travel involves far more than routine checks after a single journey. It includes scheduled servicing, technical support, repairs, safety systems and the operational readiness expected of aircraft carrying the nation’s top leadership.
The transitional years: 2019 to 2020
Disclosures for 2019–2020 were more fragmented and did not always follow the same accounting framework as the 2018 statement. An official response recorded expenditure of about ₹517.82 crore for a cluster of 58 foreign visits or country engagements during this period.
This figure focused largely on chartered flights and travel logistics. It should therefore be read carefully alongside earlier totals, which also included aircraft maintenance and hotline facilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic then brought international travel almost to a standstill. Several diplomatic visits were cancelled, postponed or replaced by virtual meetings. While the number of overseas trips fell sharply, some standing costs linked to aircraft, personnel and operational readiness continued.
After the pandemic: diplomacy resumes
According to information tabled by the MEA in the Rajya Sabha in August 2026, the government spent ₹557.51 crore on the Prime Minister’s 77 foreign visits between 2021 and July 2026.
Of this, ₹74.59 crore covered visits to 12 countries in 2026. The expenditure linked to the Prime Minister’s June 2026 visit to France had not been fully compiled at the time of the disclosure.
The year 2025 stood out as the most expensive in this phase. Visits to 23 countries that year cost approximately ₹187.83 crore. The government has said these engagements helped advance cooperation in defence, trade, energy, technology, research and investment.
Placed together, the principal public-domain figures produce this indicative total:
June 2014–December 2018: ₹2,021.58 crore
2019–2020 disclosure: ₹517.82 crore
2021–July 2026: ₹557.51 crore
Documented total: ₹3,096.91 crore
How many countries has he visited?
The latest parliamentary disclosure records visits to 77 countries between 2021 and July 2026. That figure, however, should not simply be added to the number of destinations covered between 2014 and 2020, because several countries may have been visited more than once.
No single consolidated list of unique countries visited by Prime Minister Modi from May 26, 2014, to date has been released. The most careful conclusion, therefore, is that he visited at least 77 countries during the post-pandemic period alone, while the exact cumulative count of unique destinations since he assumed office would require a full reconciliation of all country-wise travel records.
What the public figures leave out
Not every cost associated with a foreign visit appears in these disclosures. Host nations often bear expenses related to local hospitality, accommodation and certain security arrangements. Domestic support provided by the Defence Ministry and the Indian Air Force may also be absorbed into broader defence budgets rather than listed separately as Prime Ministerial travel expenditure.
Separately, the approximately ₹8,400 crore spent on acquiring and modifying two Boeing 777 aircraft—popularly known as Air India One—is generally treated as a long-term capital investment. These aircraft serve the Prime Minister, the President and the Vice-President, and are therefore not counted as routine foreign-travel costs.
Note: The expenditure figures in this article have been calculated from information available in the public domain, including parliamentary disclosures and RTI responses. Since government departments have used different time periods and accounting classifications, the consolidated figure is an estimate of documented expenditure and may not represent the complete final cost of every foreign trip.
*Inputs from Suresh Unnithan
