Why in News? Starting 19 April, India will go to the Lok Sabha polls to elect members to the Parliament in seven different phases. Conducting an election on such a large scale (with ~96.8 crore voters this election) means a big, big cost.

What was the Cost of Conducting Previous General Elections in India?

When India conducted its first election in 1951-52 (in 68 phases), it cost the country Rs 10.5 crore to organise the Lok Sabha election. Since then, the cost of the poll has increased significantly (except the 1957 election that saw a drop in the costs). For example, Rs 3,870 crore in 2014 and ~Rs 50,000 or $7 billion in 2019 (> $6.5 billion that was spent during the 2016 US presidential election). This means, the ECI spent 6 paise per elector in 1951 and that increased to Rs 46 in 2014.

What Exactly Does the ECI Spend on During Polls? There are a myriad of expenses they make from deploying officials and armed personnel, to setting up polling booths, procuring EVMs (which is a significant part [~ Rs 2500 crore for 2024 elections] of expenses), on edible ink and running awareness programmes.

Who Shoulders this Total Expense?  As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Law and Order in 1979, the Centre bears the cost of the Lok Sabha election fully. Similarly, the cost of state Assembly elections are completely borne by the state government. However, if the elections to state and Lok Sabha are being conducted simultaneously, the cost is borne by both the state and the Centre equally.

What is the Expected Cost of the 2024 Elections? This time along with the Lok Sabha polls, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha will also go to the polls. If we go by the previous years, then 2024’s election would approximately cost double (Rs 10,00,00 crore) of the last election.