Madhya Pradesh Government Spending Rs 21 Lakh On Air Travel Daily Shows Data In Assembly
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government is spending heavily on flights and helicopters. The flight bill has reached Rs 21 lakh per day. In this context, the Congress has lashed out at the BJP government in the state. (Madhya Pradesh) The state government has answered the questions raised by Congress MLAs Pratap Grewal and Pankaj Upadhyay during the Madhya Pradesh Assembly sessions. The state government has spent Rs 290 crore on the rental of private planes and helicopters from January 2021 to November 2025. This year so far, the highest amount of Rs. 90.7 crore has been paid to private air operators.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government spent Rs. 143 crore on renting private planes and helicopters from January 2024 to November 2025. In about 23 months, it spent about Rs. 6.2 crore per month or an average of Rs. 20-21 lakh per day. Before this, in the three years from January 2021 to December 2023, the government spent Rs. 147 crore. That is, about Rs. 4.1 crore per month or an average of Rs. 13 to Rs. 14 lakh per day.
On the other hand, in 2019, the cost of renting aircraft in the Madhya Pradesh state was Rs 1.63 crore annually. However, CM Mohan Yadav admitted that it has increased to over Rs 90.7 crore by 2025. The state government revised the rental rates due to factors such as increased demand for aircraft, including tourism, Lok Sabha elections, and a sharp increase in fuel and maintenance costs after Covid. Due to this, private plane and helicopter fares have increased by 20-30 percent. The prices, which were Rs 4.45 lakh per hour in 2022-23, have increased to Rs 5.70 lakh in 2024. The prices of helicopters of some companies have reached Rs 5.29 lakh per hour.
The state government aircraft that crashed in May 2021 is stuck at the Gwalior airbase. It has not been repaired for four years. The government said that it is relying more on private airlines. As a result, it revealed that the costs are increasing. However, the opposition Congress questioned why the government has not repaired the grounded government aircraft for four years. It expressed concern over the state’s debt increasing 16 times in the last 20 years, from Rs. 20,000 crore to Rs. 4.64 lakh crore. The Madhya Pradesh government is now paying Rs. 27,000 crore annually in interest. It was outraged in the Assembly.
