Motera stadium

Plants being taken to Motera stadium

Palm trees were planted on the divider near the Airport Road in Shahibaug

Paver blocks replaced on Airport Road

State to bear bigger share of expenditure

AHMEDABAD: Expenditure, it appears, is definitely not a constraint, as the state government readies to roll out the red carpet for US President Donald Trump , who will visit Ahmedabad for three hours on February 24.According to rough estimates, the state government will spend upwards of Rs 100 crore to put its best foot forward for the high-profile visit.Top sources involved in planning and execution of preparations for Trump's Ahmedabad visit said that CM Vijay Rupani has instructed that budget should not be a constraint in hosting Trump.The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) that are revamping roads and beautifying the city for Trump's visit, will jointly spend nearly Rs 100 crore.This includes Rs 60 crore for resurfacing of 17 roads and laying a dedicated 1.5 km road for Trump to travel back to the airport after opening Motera stadium.The civic body has allocated a budget of Rs 6 crore for beautification of the route and venue. The AUDA will spend about Rs 20 crore for roads.While total expenditure for Trump’s visit will be accounted after the event, a back of the envelope addition pegs the cost to be over Rs 100 crore. Government of India may bear some cost, but majority share will be borne by the state government,” said an official.“All departments have been given permission to execute all logistics and other requirements without waiting for administrative approvals to spend money as the administration is racing against time to complete preparations before the VVIP visit,” an official said.The AMC officials said Rs 500 crore was sanctioned for resurfacing patches of roads across the city in the budget. “Of this, funds have been sanctioned to resurface roads on a war footing around Motera stadium, airport and Sabarmati ashram,” an AMC leader said.