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Government spent ₹416 crore on G20 Summit: MEA tells Parliament
According to Muraleedharan, the expenditure has mainly been spent on organising over 200 meetings at 60 locations across the country, including the Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi on 9–10 September 2023
Approximately Rs.416.19 crore was spent on India’s G20 presidency and Summit, the government told the Parliament on Thursday.
In a written reply to a series of queries on G20 expenditure by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Union minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan said that of the Rs.1,310 crore budget allocated for India’s G20 Summit, the government only spent around Rs.416.19 crore as on 11 December 2023.
According to Muraleedharan, the expenditure has mainly been spent on organising over 200 meetings at 60 locations across the country, including the Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi on 9–10 September 2023.
The expenditure included conferencing, venue charges, creation and hosting of the G-20 website, administrative expenses, branding, etc., the minister said.
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A category-wise break-up of the expenses showed that the highest amount of money was spent on hosting conferences and meetings, which cost approximately Rs.161.05 crore.
The government spent approximately Rs.118 crore on hotels and meeting venues, Rs.49.02 crore on local transportation, Rs.7.36 crore on arranging special flights for remote locations, and Rs.3.42 crore on grants to knowledge partners.
Furthermore, the government spent Rs.32.50 crore on branding and publicity, Rs.7 crore on “professional services” and Rs.2 crore on “establishment costs”, informed the minister.
The government also spent Rs.10.31 crores on “IT /Website/ Cyber-security” costs and Rs.25.52 crores on miscellaneous expenses, according to the data provided.
Muraleedharan added that the bills regarding the expenses are still being received and processed.
