International Yoga Day 2016: Here's how much the govt spent for this year's event

The celebrations of the 2nd International Yoga Day kicked off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing yoga with over 30,000 people in Chandigarh. The overall spends for International Yoga Day is expected to cost the country around Rs 15 crore, which is half the cost the government spent last year.

Ajit M Sharan, Secretary of Ayush Ministry told the Asian Age in a report that the cost of the whole event is Rs 15 crore, which includes the cost of the mats, LED screens, PR for the event and all the other sundry expenses for International Yoga Day. The ministry has spent around Rs 7 crore for the main event in Chandigarh.

Ayush Ministry is entrusted with the handling of the event and has to make arrangements for the same.

The reason for this is a reduction in the advertising and promotion spends in comparison to International Yoga Day in 2015.

Last year the ministry had received flak for the exorbitant cost of the mats for the event in 2015. The mats used at the event in Rajpath cost around Rs 96,000, according to the report.