Two separate official disclosures this week have provided fresh details on government expenditure, with one revealing that the Uttar Pradesh government has spent nearly ₹6,812 crore on publicity over the past eight years, while another shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have cost over ₹550 crore since 2021.
According to an investigation by Newslaundry, the Uttar Pradesh government spent ₹6,811.94 crore on advertising and publicity between the financial years 2017-18 and 2024-25, averaging ₹2.32 crore every day. The publication, citing state budget documents, reported that this exceeds the Centre’s average spending on publicity under the Narendra Modi government, estimated at roughly ₹1.5 crore per day over the last 11 years.
The expenditure was made through the state’s Information and Public Relations Department. More than 83 percent of the total, around ₹5,658 crore, was spent under the head of “advertising and visual publicity”, covering advertisements in newspapers, television and digital media.
The spending increased steadily after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assumed office in March 2017. Publicity expenditure stood at ₹294.86 crore in 2017-18, increased to ₹330 crore in 2018-19, and ₹481.67 crore in 2019-20, before dipping to ₹392.88 crore during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. It then rose sharply to ₹1,134.31 crore in 2021-22 and peaked at ₹1,420.03 crore in 2022-23, an assembly election year. Spending remained above ₹1,300 crore in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Besides advertising, the department spent ₹896.64 crore on publications such as booklets and pamphlets, ₹220.49 crore on field publicity, ₹20.32 crore on film production, ₹11.46 crore on community radio and television, and ₹7.73 crore on photo services.
For the current financial year, 2025-26, the Uttar Pradesh government has budgeted ₹918.83 crore for the Information and Public Relations Department, including ₹705.14 crore for advertising and visual publicity alone. If the full allocation is utilised, the department’s expenditure since 2017-18 would cross ₹7,730 crore, according to the Newslaundry analysis.
The report also highlights the government’s increasing use of digital advertising. According to documents accessed by Newslaundry, campaigns were placed on platforms including Asianet News, OneIndia, Amar Ujala and ShareChat, with individual contracts worth several lakhs of rupees. The publication further reported that repeated Right to Information applications seeking beneficiary-wise details of advertising expenditure were either rejected or remained unanswered.
The investigation notes that publicity spending is not limited to the Information Department. An RTI response cited by Newslaundry showed that the Uttar Pradesh Department of Industries and Enterprise Promotion spent around ₹60 crore on publicity between 2024-25 and 2025-26, including approximately ₹12 crore during the Prayagraj Kumbh. Documents reviewed by the publication also showed a ₹70 lakh agreement with media platform YourStory to produce promotional content on the state’s “One District, One Product” initiative.
₹550 crore spent on PM’s foreign visits since 2021
In a separate development, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha that over ₹550 crore has been spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visits since 2021. These figures were provided by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita in a written reply to questions raised by Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and V. Sivadasan.
The government stated that expenditure on the Prime Minister’s foreign visits amounted to approximately ₹36 crore in 2021, ₹55 crore in 2022, ₹93 crore in 2023, ₹109 crore in 2024, and over ₹180 crore in 2025. In 2026, expenditure has already reached ₹74.58 crore, although the Ministry clarified that several figures remain provisional pending settlement of bills.
Among the visits for which expenditure has been compiled this year, the Norway leg of the Prime Minister’s five-nation tour in May 2026 accounted for the highest spending at ₹17.46 crore. The figures also include visits to countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand undertaken in July.
Responding to questions on the purpose of these visits, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that high-level visits by the Prime Minister strengthen India’s bilateral and multilateral partnerships and facilitate cooperation across sectors including trade, investment, technology, defence, energy and resilient supply chains.
The Ministry also informed Parliament that 316 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed during the Prime Minister’s foreign visits since July 2021. It further stated that India received USD 381.8 billion in Foreign Direct Investment between April 2021 and December 2025.
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