Winning Bizness Sports Desk

Mumbai. The G20 Summit 2023 was held in the country's national capital Delhi on 9 and 10 September, which was a big opportunity for India and in which the heads of state and government of 19 countries participated. Apart from this, the European Union also participated in this conference. Moreover, G20 member countries, heads of nine countries participated in the meeting as guest countries. Heads of state of the countries included in the G20 group, representatives of the European Union and representatives of nine guest countries reached Delhi to attend the conference. Meanwhile, New Delhi was decorated like a bride and every road and intersection from the airport to hotels and the venue Bharat Mandap was colored in the G20 theme. All the roads and squares of Delhi were decorated with flowers and fountains while government buildings and footpaths were freshly painted. Tight security arrangements were also made and anti-drone systems and 1,30,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to provide foolproof security to the city.

Expenses were broadly grouped into around 12 categories

As per reports, Rs 4254.75 crore has been spent on decorating the capital for the G20 summit. The expenses were broadly grouped into around 12 categories. One of the most important components of the G20 preparations was security. Apart from this, the expenses incurred in the maintenance of roads, footpaths, street signage and lighting system are also included. Around Rs 75 lakh to over Rs 3,500 crore was spent on work ranging from horticulture reforms to G20 branding. These expenses were incurred by nine government agencies ranging from departments under the Defense Ministry to NDMC and MCD.

Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi shared some documents

India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and agencies like Military Engineer Services, Delhi Police, NDMC and DDA incurred 98 per cent of the total expenditure. Most of the asset creation and maintenance was done in areas falling in NDMC and Lutyens zones and hence the central government departments have borne most of the expenditure. The expenditure incurred by ITPO was not just for the summit but also for the Bharat Mandapam. According to a document shared by Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, ITPO footed nearly ₹3,600 crore (over 87 per cent) of the total bill. After this, Delhi Police paid Rs 340 crore and NDMC paid Rs 60 crore. At the same time, the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi Government has contributed approximately Rs 45 crore, the Central Road Surface Transport Ministry has contributed Rs 26 crore, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has contributed Rs 18 crore, the Forest Department of the Delhi Government has contributed Rs 16 crore and the MCD Spent five crore rupees.

Provision was mentioned in budget

Earlier, a provision of Rs 990 crore was made for the chairmanship of G20 in the Union Budget 2023-24. In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that in the current times of global challenges, the presidency of G20 has provided a unique opportunity for India to strengthen its role in the world economic system. The Finance Minister had said that with the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, India is pursuing an ambitious people-based agenda to address global challenges as well as enable sustainable economic growth. The two-day meeting of G20, an influential group of 19 major countries of the world and the European Union, begins on Saturday.