Prime Minister Narendra Modi | Photo Credit: -

Spending on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visits reached a five-year high of ₹187.83 crore in 2025, driven by an intensive travel schedule that covered 23 countries, according to a response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha.

The expenditure was 71.5 per cent higher than the ₹109.51 crore spent in 2024, and more than five times the ₹36.12 crore incurred in 2021, when overseas engagements remained limited following the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2026, expenditure has already reached ₹74.58 crore as of July, although the government said the final cost of the PM’s visit to France in June is yet to be compiled. 

The number of countries covered through official foreign visits has also risen steadily over the period. The PM visited four countries in 2021, followed by 10 in 2022, 11 in 2023, 17 in 2024, and a peak of 23 in 2025. Up to July 2026, he has visited 13 countries, with repeat visits to the same country counted separately.

The data also reveals that a few destinations accounted for a significant share of annual travel expenditure. The France leg of the PM’s 2025 visit, the costliest foreign visit during the five years at ₹25.60 crore, resulted in agreements on start-up collaboration, environmental cooperation, advanced and small modular reactors, digital sciences, triangular development cooperation and nuclear training.

The U S, the costliest destination in three of the six years covered by the data, saw agreements on healthcare and infectious disease research in 2021, semiconductor supply chains, jet engine cooperation and the Artemis Accords in 2023, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework’s Clean Economy, Fair Economy and overarching agreements in 2024.

Germany, the costliest destination in 2022 with expenditure of ₹14.47 crore, witnessed agreements on green and sustainable development, renewable energy, green hydrogen, migration and mobility, triangular development cooperation, secure communications and executive training, among many others.

For 2026, the Norway leg of the PM’s visit, covering the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy, has so far emerged as the most expensive, with an expenditure of ₹17.47 crore. However, the government noted that the final expenditure for some destinations, including France and Norway, remains subject to the settlement of pending bills.

Published on August 6, 2026