Karnataka govt. to settle PM hospitality dues

BENGALURU: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has asked the ruling Congress government in Karnataka to settle Rs 80 lakh bills incurred towards hospitality of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stay in Mysuru city in April previous year and accordingly the State Government has decided to clear the dues of the luxury hotel, said the Minister for Forests and Environment Eshwar Khandre.

A couple of days back the Minister had stated that it had come to his notice that hotel bills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were yet to be settled after the luxury hotel management had written to the Forest officials to clear the bills amounting to Rs 80 lakh towards the stay of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Khandre stated that NTCA had not responded to letters or to the phone calls to settle the hospitality dues of the Prime Minister after initially agreeing to bear all the expenses of the Prime Minister stay in Mysuru city.

“(Now) we have decided to settle the bills and there are no issues,” said the Minister in a chat with reporters in Bengaluru city on Monday. The Prime Minister had stayed in a luxury hotel in Mysuru city in April, 2023 to participate in the commemoration of 50 years of Project Tiger, a conservation programme aimed at increasing the tigers’ population in the wild.

Khandre said for the commemoration programme, it was decided to incur Rs 3 crore but the cost escalated to Rs 6.33 crore. Out of it, the Minister said NTCA cleared Rs 3 crore while another Rs 3.33 crore was pending with them including Rs 80 lakh towards PM’s hospitality.

According to the Minister, the event was a Central Government programme and the State Government was not part of the programme since the model code of conduct for the 2023 Assembly in Karnataka was in force except for Karnataka Forest officials who were part of a team to hold the event.