Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia claims Govt is spending Rs 60 crore per Vande Bharat train inauguration; Fact Check

Claim: While the cost of a Vande Bharat train is Rs 120 to Rs 140 crore, the Government of India is spending around Rs 60 crore on inauguration.

Conclusion: Misleading. There is no proof to show that the Government is spending Rs 60 crore on each inauguration while an RTI information, backed by news reports, reveal that not more than Rs 2.5 crore was spent in 2023.

Rating : Misleading —

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On 14 August 2025, celebrity figure and formerly Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia, using his X handle ‘sabeer’ with more than 27,800 followers has made a claim regarding the Vande Bharat train inaugurations. The post reads: “Vande Bharat train: Cost ₹120-140 crore. Ticket: ₹1,400-3,000. Inauguration cost: ₹60 crore. Mera Bharat Mahan.” 

Find the tweet below: 

Vande Bharat train: Cost ₹120-140 crore. Ticket: ₹1,400-3,000. Inauguration cost: ₹60 crore. Mera Bharat Mahan.

— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) August 13, 2025

This criticism implies wasteful spending on inaugurations related to train costs and fares.  It also comes amid an increasing number of Vande Bharat trains being inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi. 

FACT CHECK

DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim upon request on its WhatsApp tipline and discovered that it is rather misleading. The production cost of a Vande Bharat train costs around Rs 115 crore as per a report in The New Indian Express. However, there is no proof to justify that the government spends around Rs 60 crore on each inauguration of Vande Bharat trains. 

When asked in the comment section of the post, as to what was the source of this information, Sabeer Bhatia replied, “Social media”. This reflects a lack of confidence in the source, indicating that the claim remains vague without substantiatial evidence. Check the screenshot below:

We then conducted a keyword search with phrases like “Vande Bharat inauguration cost” for empirical evidence. Extensive web searches reveal that the figure is too high and finally our team could trace to an official RTI data from Indian Railways. The data information documented such event costs ranging from ₹0.52 crore to ₹2.5 crore per launch way back in 2019, which was pre-Covid era.

Another report published by the National Herald on 13 July 2023, mentions how Rs 5.6 crore was spent on four Vande Bharat train inaugurations.  This clearly contradicts the claim made by the user who suggests that Rs 60 crore was being spent on a single inauguration. View a snippet from the article here: 

Another specific breakdown of a Vande Bharat train inauguration comes from a report published by the Financial Express. Specific breakdowns include ₹1.14 crore for the Chennai-Coimbatore launch in April 2023, paid to Evoke Media for event management. View a section of the article below – 

In a similar fashion, a report published by the Times of India on 15 July 2023, mentions that ₹1.48 crore was spent for the Thiruvanatapuram-Kasargod Vande Bharat. The report also states that ₹2.5 crore was spent for the inauguration of the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat on May 18 2023. View a section from the report below – 

Thus, evidence from RTIs and reports proves the ₹60 crore is far-fetched to be true as the actual cost is far less at around Rs 2.5 crore in 2023. Hence, the claim is misleading.  

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