US President Barack Obama has spent a whopping $ 1.55 million or Rs. 9.3 crore on five of his state dinners since 2009, with the most expensive of them being the first one hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Records from the State Department Office of Protocol, whose budget covers state dinners, show they can cost taxpayers in excess of half a million dollars per event, CBS News reported.

In response to a Freedom of Information request to which it took the State Department 13 months to respond, CBS News has obtained the Office of Protocol's expense calculations for the first five state dinners of the Obama presidency.

The Obama administration spent $ 572,187.36 or Rs. 3.4 crore for the State Dinner for Dr Singh at the White House on November 24, 2009.
-- MSN News.