Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Monday said the state government will pay the hospitality bill of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had come to Mysuru in April last year to commemorate 50 years of Project Tiger, which runs up to Rs 80 lakh.
In a statement, the minister's office said it is a tradition of the state government to host dignitaries like the Prime Minister and the President when they come. However, due to the Assembly elections in Karnataka in April last year, the state government was not involved in the planning of the programme (Project Tiger) since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in force.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said that the prime minister had visited Mysuru-Bandipur on the eve of the commemoration of 50 years of Project Tiger. At that point of time, the MCC was in force. Elections were declared. So, it was purely a Central government programme. Initially, they had planned to spend around Rs 3 crore but the expenditure incurred was around Rs 6.33 crore. So, the balance of Rs 3.3 crore has to come from the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
"The state government's forest department had written to them (authority). They informed that the hotel bill (Rs 80 lakh) should be reimbursed by the state government and we have decided to reimburse. So, there is no issue," he added.
Following media reports that the hotel where the prime minister had stayed has threatened to find legal recourse to recover its dues, Mr Khandre had on Saturday said that he will try to resolve the issue amicably.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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