Fact Check: PM Modi’s trip to Morbi for few hours cost Rs 30 crore? Here’s the truth

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Saket Gokhale on Thursday claimed that an RTI had revealed that Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Morbi “for a few hours” had cost Rs 30 crore. 

PM Modi visited Gujarat city on October 30 after the recent bridge collapse tragedy which claimed over 130 lives. Gokhale said that the cost Rs 30 crore, out of which Rs 5.5 crore was “purely for ‘welcome, event management and photography”. He compared the alleged expenditure with the relief provided to the 135 victims of the Morbi tragedy at Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia, coming to Rs 5 crore.  

“RTI reveals that Modi’s visit to Morbi for a few hours cost ₹30 cr. Of this, ₹ 5.5cr was purely for ‘welcome, event management, & photography’,” Gokhale had claimed in a tweet.

“135 victims who died got ₹4 lac ex-gratia each i.e. ₹5 cr. Just Modi’s event management & PR costs more than life of 135 people,” he added.

RTI reveals that Modi’s visit to Morbi for a few hours cost ₹30 cr.

Of this, ₹ 5.5cr was purely for “welcome, event management, & photography”.

135 victims who died got ₹4 lac ex-gratia each i.e. ₹5 cr.

Just Modi’s event management & PR costs more than life of 135 people. pic.twitter.com/b4YNi1uB9c

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) December 1, 2022

Did PM Modi’s trip to Morbi cost Rs 30 crore?

Gokhale shared clippings from a newspaper in Gujarati with the claim in the Twitter post. The source of the information cited by the TMC leader appears to be fake regarding the expenditure incured during PM Modi's Morbi trip back in October this year.

The government’s fact-check handle has refuted the claim as well as the source, clarifying that no such RTI response has been given. 

“Quoting an RTI, It is being claimed in a tweet that PM’s visit to Morbi cost ₹30 cr,” Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-check handle on Twitter noted. 

Quoting an RTI, It is being claimed in a tweet that PM’s visit to Morbi cost ₹30 cr.#PIBFactCheck

This claim is #Fake.

No such RTI response has been given. pic.twitter.com/CEVgvWgGTv

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 1, 2022

“This claim is Fake. No such RTI response has been given,” it clarified.

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