HC Deb 16 March 1911 vol 22 cc2445-6
Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India what was the estimated expenditure of the last Durbar made by the Indian Government; and what was its acutal cost?

The UNDER-SECRETARY for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)

The preliminary estimate framed by the Government of India in March, 1902, and published in their Financial Statement, of the cost of the Delhi Durbar of 1st January, 1903, amounted to £233,000. In a statement submitted by the Government of India in December, 1903, to the then Secretary of State, the gross cost, less earnings of the Durbar Light Railway, receipts from Visitors' Camps, and sale of stores, was shown at £299,000. These figures relate only to Imperial expenditure.

Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD

Is the Under-Secretary in a position to tell me how much these deductions amounted to, and also whether they were present in the mind of the Government of India when they prepared their estimate?

Mr. MONTAGU

If the hon. Member will put down a question I will give him the exact figures of the deductions, but when they were first preparing their original estimates the Government of India drew attention to the possible savings and deductions which ought to be set against gross expenditure.

Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD

asked whether the estimate of £1,000,000 as the cost of the Durbar to be held at Delhi relates only to the expenditure for which the Government of India will be responsible; whether the expenses of the provincial governments will be in addition to that sum; and, if they are to be in addition, whether any estimate has been made of their amount?

Mr. MONTAGU

The estimate of the cost of the Royal visit to India covers not only the proposed Durbar at Delhi, but also the entertainment of His Majesty in other parts of India. It has for convenience been referred to as an estimate of about £1,000,000, but the actual provision made in the Budget is £940,000, of which £633,300 is civil and £306,700 military expenditure. It relates only to expenditure by the Government of India. Estimates for expenditure by provincial governments have not yet been submitted to the Secretary of State; any such expenditure, if it be sanctioned, will be additional to that incurred by the Government of India.