evidence: New Delhi: Since he assumed office in 2004, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has spent several hundred crores of rupees on his foreign trips. However, the austerity drive of the government and ruling Congress Party seems to have begun yielding result since late 2008. A quick example: during his 2005 UK trip, his chartered aircrafts and hotlines/communication cost the country Rs 6,87,08,798 while during his 2009 trip to same UK, the expenses under the two heads were Rs 14,66,060. According to data made available by Prime Minister’s Office to RTI activist and Jamia Millia Islamia student Afroz Alam Sahil, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has visited 41 countries, some of them twice and thrice, from 2004 to 2009. Of all, his trip to US and France in 2008 was the most expensive: more than Rs 25 crore was spent. Interestingly, each of his trips from 2004 to late 2008 cost several crores of rupees, but suddenly after that his every foreign trip cost some lakhs of rupees.