How Much Has MK Stalin's Foreign Trips Cost Tamil Nadu Govt In 4 Years?

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign trips Rs 259 crore in the last three years, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's trips have cost less than Rs 10 crore

RTI Response

An RTI response has revealed that the Tamil Nadu government has spent Rs 7.12 crore on Stalin's trips, according to a report in Federal. The expenses cover travel, accommodation, visa, and insurance charges since he assumed office on May 7, 2021.

Dubai Tour Under Scanner

However, the government has not revealed the expenditure of the Dubai trip. He has visited the Dubai Expo in the UAE between March 24 and 28 in 2022 in order to attract investments to Tamil Nadu.

Citing the RTI document, the report claimed that there were over 20 people with Stalin allegedly including his family members like his wife Durga Stalin, son Udhayanidhi Stalin, and daughter-in-law Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi.

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and senior officials were part of Stalin's entourage. As the AIADMK targeted the DMK calling the trip a "family vacation" on the public's money, Minister Thangam Thennarasu has said that the DMK party had covered the flight expenses of Stalin's family members.

Nonetheless, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to release the full details on the said expenditure.

It may be recalled that the public department had refused to give details about former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's travel to Israel, UK, the US, and the UAE in 2019.

PM Modi's Foreign Trip Expenditure

In a related development, government data presented in Parliament revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 38 foreign trips between May 2022 and December 2024 cost nearly ₹259 crore. These expenses were distributed across accommodation (₹104 crore), miscellaneous costs (₹75.7 crore), and transportation (₹71.1 crore). The highest spending was on visits to the US (₹38.2 crore), Japan (₹33 crore), and Germany (₹23.9 crore).