Chandrayaan-3 cost less: Indian govt earns Rs. 800 crore selling scrap, surpasses Moon mission budget

The revenue generated from the scrap sale also exceeded the ₹615 crore budget of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission.

According to a report by News18, the latest campaign has taken the total earnings from scrap disposal to nearly ₹4,100 crore since the annual Swachhata initiative began in 2021.

The campaign, conducted between October 2 and 31, cleared a record 232 lakh sq ft of office space and resulted in the weeding out of 29 lakh physical files, the report said. The drive covered approximately 11.58 lakh government office sites across the country.

The exercise was overseen by Union ministers Mansukh Mandaviya, K. Ram Mohan Naidu, and Jitendra Singh.

Sharing details of the campaign on X, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said the government has earned ₹4,085 crore and freed 24 lakh sq ft of space over five annual Swachhata drives held since 2021.

He added that 231.75 lakh sq ft of space has been cleared of unused material, scrap furniture, and obsolete equipment, enabling its use for productive purposes.