The G20 Summit in New Delhi was deemed a success after the adoption of the Delhi Declaration by all the member countries. However, not many people know that the Indian government spent a massive amount of money to host the G20 Summit this year.
The G20 Summit in India has become one of the most expensive G20 meetings yet, with the majority of the money spent in the renovations and revamping of central Delhi, as well as the construction of the G20 venue Bharat Mandapam.
According to an official statement by Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, the government allocated funds to several departments across Delhi including Delhi Police, PWD, MCD, DDA, and NHAI, taking the total cost of the G20 Summit hosted by India to over Rs 4000 crore, according to PTI.
A complete breakdown of costs was mentioned by Lekhi, Rs 340 crore was assigned to the Delhi Police, and Rs 700 crore was assigned for the construction and repair of roads in the national capital ahead of the G20 Summit. The majority of the funds was linked to ITPO, which was over Rs 3600 crore, as per Lekhi's tweet.
It must be noted that the expenditure is majorly towards permanent assets creation and ITPO, which is not just restricted to the G20 Summit hosting.
Through this, the G20 Summit in India has become one of the most expensive global meetings of all time, with the total cost coming out to over Rs 4100 crore. However, India is not the only country to drop a massive bundle when it comes to the G20 Summit.
China has hosted the most expensive G20 Summit yet, spending over Rs 1.9 lakh crore (USD 24 billion), according to a report in The Economist. China had hosted the 2016 G20 Summit in the city of Hangzhou, which became the most expensive G20 hosted till date.
Further, Canada has spend over Rs 4300 crore on the summit hosted by them in 2010, and Australia had spent Rs 2653 crore on the G20 Summit in 2014, which was the first G20 attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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