Mumbai: A sprawling pavilion spread over two floors, extra food arranged at the eleventh hour for a spread for 150 people and a chartered flight from Mumbai to Zurich and back — the cost incurred by Maharashtra on its delegation to Davos in January this year was higher than what the state spent on it in 2015, 2018, 2019 or 2022, ThePrint has learnt.
For the last five delegations the Maharashtra government sent to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) conference in Davos, Switzerland, the cost incurred on each successive visit surged, and the size of the delegation swelled.
Over the years, the amount spent by the state government on these trips went from Rs 63.28 lakh in 2015 — when then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis led a delegation to Davos — to Rs 32.31 crore this year, under incumbent CM Eknath Shinde, according to details of the cost incurred accessed by ThePrint under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Asked for comment, Harshdeep Kamble, principal secretary of the state industries department, directed ThePrint to the MIDC. MIDC chief executive officer (CEO) Vipin Sharma, who was a part of this year’s delegation, did not respond to calls and messages.
ThePrint also reached state Industries Minister Uday Samant for comment via calls and text messages but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The WEF, headquartered at Cologny in Switzerland, is an independent organisation that holds an annual conference at Davos, a town in the Swiss Alps, in January. Governments, business owners and civil society representatives from around the world attend the event, participating in panel discussions and informal gatherings. It is also an opportunity for private companies and governments to hold one on one meetings.
Last month, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) had categorically raised questions on expenses incurred on this year’s trip to Davos. Samant, in turn, sought details of cost incurred on Maharashtra’s delegation to Davos in 2022.
माझ्या लंडन दौर्‍याचा खर्च कोणी केला ? त्याचे उत्तर सोबत आहे…
२७ सप्टेंबर २३ रोजी ट्रॅव्हल कंपनीला दिलेला धनादेश आणि त्याची पोच पावती सुद्धा आहे.
संपूर्ण दौऱ्यात राहण्याचा आणि प्रवासाचा खर्च देखील मी स्वतः केलेला आहे..
पण मी विचारलेल्या २०२२ च्या दावोस दौऱ्याच्या प्रश्नांची… pic.twitter.com/VPsjMK8TcQ— Uday Samant (@samant_uday) October 5, 2023
The Shinde-led delegation comprised 17 persons. Unlike earlier delegations, the chief minister and a few senior officials took a chartered flight from Mumbai to Zurich and back. In addition, this time around, the government hired a more expensive pavilion than previous years, threw a ‘state dinner’ and spent more on publicity than the total cost incurred by delegations in 2015 or 2018, show records maintained by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and accessed by ThePrint.
According to MIDC records, while at Davos, the delegation signed 19 ‘investment intentions’ worth an estimated Rs 1,37,666 crore.
The MIDC, a Maharashtra government agency set up to promote investment in the state, approves and bears the expenses of these trips.
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Schneider’s House pavilion, chartered flight & ‘state dinner’
The delegation to Davos in 2023 turned out to be Maharashtra government’s most expensive so far. Discussions on participating in the conference began in October 2022, when the state government opined that it should hire a bigger pavilion than the one hired in January that year.
“It is important to note that a smaller pavilion was taken by the state in 2022 (approximately 75 square metre) as a part of the India delegation which limited the visibility of the state’s presence, hindered the ability to hold parallel meetings and only allowed for limited participants at the pavilion at any given time,” read an internal MIDC note dated 28 October, 2022.
Accordingly, the government opted for the ‘Schneider’s House pavilion (Promenade 68 or P68)’. Spread across two floors, it had more than seven meeting rooms and four washrooms. Though the government was initially told that the approximate cost for hiring it would amount to Rs 10 crore plus taxes, MIDC records show that it ended up costing Rs 16.3 crore.
महाराष्ट्र राज्याचे सुसज्ज आणि आकर्षक पॅव्हेलियन दाव्होस येथे प्रमुख ठिकाणी आहे. महाराष्ट्र पॅव्हेलियनमध्ये राज्याच्या प्रगतीचे प्रभावी दर्शन घडवले जाणार आहे. तसेच महत्वाच्या उद्योगांसमवेत येथे सामजंस्य करारही केले जाणार आहेत. pic.twitter.com/aGgnEGMV2O
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) January 16, 2023
At first, the delegation was supposed to include Shinde and his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, but the latter decided to give Davos a miss. Eventually, MIDC approved a delegation of 15 members, in addition to an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Samant and two MIDC marketing officers.
On 2 March this year, the MIDC approved the delegation’s final expense sheet of Rs 32.21 crore. While nearly half of this amount (Rs 16.3 crore) was spent on the pavilion, the cost incurred under other heads was also higher compared to previous years.
For instance, in 2022, the delegation spent Rs 3.59 crore on logistics including air travel, accommodation, local travel, and credit card expenses. In 2023, this amount was Rs 7.27 crore. To add to that, Shinde and a few senior officials chartered a flight which cost an additional Rs 1.89 crore.
An MIDC official who did not wish to be named told ThePrint that the “government is exploring chartering a flight for the 2024 delegation too”.
The plan to charter a flight to Zurich in January this year, according to an internal MIDC note accessed by ThePrint, was a last-minute one to accommodate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schedule.
On 11 January 2023, the MIDC drafted a note saying that the chief minister and some senior officials will have to reschedule their travel dates as the Prime Minister was expected to come to Mumbai to attend an inauguration ceremony on 19 January. The note added that since there was no direct flight on the date of choice, members of the delegation decided to charter a plane for the entire trip — from Mumbai to Zurich and back.
The state government also spent on accommodation and flight category upgrades requested by members of the delegation, besides last-minute changes in dates and cancellations, MIDC records accessed by ThePrint show. Further, the Shinde-led delegation spent Rs 1.92 crore on a ‘state dinner’ for 150 people at Davos. According to MIDC records, the delegation had to book additional space and arrange extra food at the eleventh hour
Davos trips over the years
State government officials said Maharashtra has been sending its independent delegation to Davos since 2015. Prior to that, in 2014, then CM Prithviraj Chavan and a few officials had participated in the WEF conference as a part of the Indian delegation. Maharashtra has since sent delegations to the WEF Davos conference in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. And with each successive year, the expenses incurred have surged.
In 2015, a six-member delegation attended the conference from 21 to 25 January, spending Rs 63.28 lakh, according to MIDC records.
The delegation comprised then CM Fadnavis, chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, MIDC chief executive Bhushan Gagrani, secretary (industries) Apurva Chandra, Praveen Pardeshi — principal secretary to Fadnavis — and a representative of the MIDC marketing department.
Reached the beautiful City of Davos for the #WEF2015 .
Day full of bilateral meetings & receptions begins! pic.twitter.com/rMM9IHik5L
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) January 21, 2015
In 2018, when the state government was planning to send a delegation, the MIDC, while planning the trip in October 2017, drew up a cost estimate of Rs 1.02 crore. With the estimate evidently higher than what was spent in 2015, then MIDC chief executive Sanjay Sethi had in a file noting on 2 November, 2017, sought clarity on the arrangements made in 2015.
According to another internal file noting the same day, Sethi was told that in 2015, MIDC did not hire a separate meeting lounge in the periphery of the Davos Congress Centre. The delegation held meetings at the ‘Make in India’ lounge of the Union government’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, but there is no possibility of making arrangements for a separate branding for Maharashtra, read the note.
This delegation in 2018 comprised six government representatives, including then CM Fadnavis and state industries minister Subhash Desai. The expenditure on that trip was Rs 2.13 crore.
After the heavy snowfall welcome at #Davos , had some back to back meetings and discussions for #MagneticMaharashtra !#IndiaMeansBusiness #WEF2018 pic.twitter.com/1Ygw0LOEAL
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) January 22, 2018
In 2019, the expenditure skyrocketed, with the delegation spending Rs 7.62 crore. This delegation comprised only officials since then industries minister Subhash Desai cancelled his plan days before the trip.
The expenses for this trip were probed with payment to some vendors being held off till as late as this year, MIDC records show.
250% more spent in 2019 compared to 2018
The Maharashtra government’s plan to participate in the 2019 Davos conference firmed up at the last minute, resulting in expenditure that was 250 percent of what the state incurred in 2018.
The delegation was slated to visit Davos from 22 to 24 January 2019, while the proposal for the trip was sent internally only on 10 January that year.
It was expected that the delegation would include then state industries minister Subhash Desai, additional chief secretary (industries) Satish Gavai, MIDC CEO Dr P. Anbalagan, marketing manager Gajanan Patil, and Manohar Wakle, OSD to the industries department.
The next day, on 11 January, Desai also got his personal secretary Sanjay Katkar added to the list, MIDC records accessed by ThePrint show.
By 15 January, the composition of the delegation had changed yet again.
Desai and his secretary Katkar cancelled as a result of which the delegation was reduced to five people, namely Satish Gavai, Dr P. Anbalagan, Gajanan Patil, Manohar Wakle and Lokesh Chandra, managing director (MD) of the City Industrial and Development Corporation (CIDCO).
The state government attributed the expenditure of Rs 7.62 crore to the last-minute planning due to which the delegation had to pay higher prices for flight tickets, accommodation and meeting rooms. The lion’s share of the total cost incurred was spent on accommodation and booking meeting rooms at Davos, followed by indoor and outdoor advertising.
The delegation spent Rs 2.35 crore on booking two villas in Davos — a three-bedroom chalet and a five-bedroom chalet — from 21 to 25 January, in addition to Rs 2.72 crore on meeting rooms, advertising, etc.
Eventually, the delegation faced flak for the relatively high cost incurred on the trip. Through various correspondences between the finance and industries departments, it was decided not to clear the bills immediately and instead verify them by comparing them with market rates and quotes of agencies offering similar services, MIDC records show.
At the same time, there was an internal discussion within the government to empanel agencies that offer the most competitive rates. There was also a discussion to plan for the Davos trip well in advance and secure sanctions for budgets by following due process going ahead.
Gavai, additional chief secretary (industries), submitted a note to the then state industries minister Subhash Desai and the CM Fadnavis, giving details of meetings held during the trip, of the Maharashtra pavilion in Davos, and why the cost ended up being higher than previous years.
The note, a copy of which is with ThePrint, read, “Since the time was short and appropriate accommodation was required to be made for Honourable Minister Industries, a chalet had been booked. At the last minute, Honourable Minister, Industries, had to cancel the tour due to unforeseen circumstances. The cancellation of the chalet would have led to full loss of booking amount. Therefore, the tour had to be continued.”
Gavai added that MIDC CEO Anbalagan checked with his counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and found that delegations from the two states spent Rs 6 and 9 crore respectively, on their trip to Davos that year.
“Even so, by way of abundant precaution, CEO MIDC has withheld the payment to the agent who made all the travel, accommodation, transport, pavilion, and meeting arrangements unless the latter justifies the claim made by him. It is reiterated that not a single rupee has been paid to the agent yet,” Gavai stated in the note dated 18 March, 2019.
According to Gavai’s note, among the meetings the delegation held in Davos was one with “David Kamenetzky, chief strategy and external affairs officer at Ab InBev” and another with “Hyun-Sang Cho, group president of HYOSUNG on the company’s construction plans at AURIC”.
The note also mentions meetings with “Jai Shroff, Global CEO of United Phosphorus on the firm’s plans to invest close to Rs 6,000 crore in the state; Rakesh Mittal, managing director at Bharti Mobile Limited to discuss expansion plans in Maharashtra;
“Vineet Mittal, chairman at Avaada Power on the company’s 500 MW solar plant at Buldhana and plans to set up a solar cell and panel near Navi Mumbai; Amit Kalyani, CEO of Kalyani Group to discuss the company’s expansion and SpiceJet to discuss possible areas of synergy between the company and the Maharashtra government.”
What Maharashtra spent on publicity
In 2022 and 2023, the amount spent on advertising and publicity to highlight Maharashtra’s participation at Davos was, in fact, higher than the total cost incurred by the delegations in 2015 and 2018, and nearly half of the total cost incurred in 2019.
In 2022, the delegation, under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the undivided Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, spent Rs 3.44 crore on advertising and publicity. The total amount incurred by the delegation that year was Rs 11.41 crore.
And in 2023, the delegation, under the Sena-BJP government, spent Rs 3.32 crore on advertising and publicity. The total spend in 2023 was, however, almost three times that of 2022 at Rs 32.31 crore.
For the conference in 2022, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government had initially proposed a nine-member delegation that was to visit Davos from 17 to 21 January.
This delegation comprised then state industries minister Subhash Desai, Energy Minister Nitin Raut, Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, MoS (industries) Aditi Tatkare and officials including additional chief secretary to CM Ashish Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary to industries department Baldev Singh, MIDC chief executive Anbalagan, a second MIDC official and a personal secretary to the industries minister.
However, the dates of the conference were shifted to 22-26 May that year.
The state government then increased the size of the delegation to 14 people, including an MIDC marketing manager and an OSD to Aaditya Thackeray.
Eventually, the state ended up spending Rs 11.41 crore on the trip, with publicity accounting for Rs 3.44 crore, followed by the cost of hiring and setting up the pavilion (Rs 3.22 crore), and accommodation (Rs 2.40 crore). The MVA government had then said that during the trip to Davos, Maharashtra signed ‘investment intentions’ worth more than Rs 80,000 crore with 24 companies and three ‘MoUs of strategic cooperation’.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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