Karnataka spent over Rs 20 crore on 58 foreign trips by officials since 2023

Bengaluru: Bureaucrats undertook 95 foreign trips since 2023, many of which were funded with taxpayer money, according to data tabled by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the ongoing legislature session.

The government spent Rs 20.28 crore on 58 foreign trips by officials. This works out to an average Rs 21.35 lakh per trip. The remaining trips were not funded by taxpayer money.

In September 2025, the state government banned all official foreign trips by officials in the fiscal after it was found that many officials did not submit "study reports" after such overseas visits.

In a circular, the department of personnel & administrative reforms (DPAR), which reports to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, stated that no official foreign trip would be allowed in 2025 until further orders. The circular pointed out that officials who went on foreign trips between August 2024 and July 2025 had not submitted study reports.

The first foreign trip funded by the exchequer in 2023 cost Rs 5 lakh for a 6-day trip to Manila (Italy), Paris (France) and Madrid (Spain) by additional chief secretary Kapil Mohan (who has since retired) for tourism-related events and roadshows.

In the same year, the government spent Rs 2.2 crore for a 11-day visit to the USA for investment promotion by Commerce & Industries principal secretary S Selva Kumar, Industrial Development commissioner Gunjan Krishna and Secretary (IT/BT) Ekroop Caur.

The costliest trip was in 2024 when the government spent Rs 4.7 crore for an official delegation attending the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in 2024. This included then Additional Chief Secretary to CM L K Atheeq, Selvakumar, Caur, Gunjan and Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board chief executive Dr Mahesh.

In March 2025, the tourism department spent Rs 81.5 lakh on a 4-day trip to Russia where an official delegation, led by then tourism secretary Salma Fahim, attended the Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition.

In February 2026, Horticulture Secretary Girish R went to Germany and the UK for eight days to attend the Fruit Logistica at a cost of Rs 15 lakh.

According to information tabled by Siddaramaiah, officials from the state visited at least 27 countries. This included destinations like Marrakech (Morocco), the Taronga Zoo in Sydney (Australia) and Gaborone (Botswana).