Thiruvananthapuram: An RTI reply has revealed that a whopping Rs 43 lakh was spent on a London visit by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team in October.
The RTI queries were answered by the Indian High Commission's London office.
Chief Minister Vijayan, along with three other state ministers and top officials, was in London from October 8-12 during which all the expenses were met by the Commission on behalf of the Kerala government.
A detailed split up shows an equivalent of Rs 28.54 lakh was paid for the hotel accommodation while the local transportation cost Rs 22.38 lakh and at the airport lounge, it came to Rs 2.21 lakh.
The Commission office stated that they have no information on the MoUs signed during the visit and also pointed out that no amount was paid by the delegates or the Kerala government to the Commission's office.
Vijayan was accompanied by his wife, daughter and grandson and among others, the wife of State Education Minister V. Sivankutty was also there. However, the expenses of the family members were met personally.
The purpose of the visit according to the government was to explore opportunities to bring in foreign investment to the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Ministers V Sivankutty, P Rajeev, Veena George, Planning Board Vice Chairman VK Ramachandran, Chief Secretary VP Joy, the officer on special duty Venu Rajamani, Industries Secretary Suman Billa, General Education Secretary APM Muhammad Hanish and Chief Minister's PA VM Suneesh were the members present in the official team.
-IANS Inputs