Team Modi spends more on tours, less on salaries

PM Narendra Modi might have a smaller council of ministers, but it didn’t turn out to be any cheaper to the exchequer.

PM Narendra Modi might have a smaller council of ministers, but it didn’t turn out to be any cheaper to the exchequer.

The government spent Rs 454 crore on the 65-member council of ministers and the PMO during the current fiscal, against Rs 430 crore allocated in the budget last year.

Most of this, Rs 316 crore, was spent on tour expenses of his ministers. It also includes expenditure on PM’s foreign and domestic visits. According to a fresh declaration on the PMO website, Modi undertook 48 domestic tours after coming to power in May-end, including 19 unofficial trips to campaign for the party.

Since the PM has a smaller team of ministers, he had fewer salaries to pay, saving the taxpayer around Rs 1.5 crore. The government spent Rs 4.4 crore on their salary as compared to the Rs 5.8 crore spent on Union ministers in the UPA era.