Government sources said on Wednesday that the price of the Mercedes Maybach added to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security detail was much less than what was being speculated and that the change in vehicle was not an upgrade but routine replacement.

The rare clarification on such a subject by government sources was accompanied by the claim that the intense scrutiny of the Prime Minister’s car was “not in national interest” and unsubstantiated assertions about the car brand used by Congress president Sonia Gandhi when the UPA was in power.

Social media and news reports have been agog with conjecture on the price of the Maybach, with many claiming it is priced at Rs 12 crore. There has been intense criticism of the choice of a foreign brand when the Prime Minister always harped on self-reliance. Many have contrasted Modi’s presumably costly choice of clothes, accessories and modes of transport with his claims of frugal living.

“The (Mercedes Maybach) cars cost much less than the media speculation, in fact it is about one-third the price quoted in the media,” a government source said.

The sources said the “routine replacement” had been necessitated as BMW had stopped making the model used by the Prime Minister earlier.

According to the Mercedes Benz website, the ex-showroom price of a Maybach S650 starts from Rs 2.78 crore, but the Prime Minister’s car is likely to cost much more because of the security and other features.

The government sources said the SPG security detail mandated that vehicles of protectees be replaced every six years. They said the previous fleet had been used for eight years under Modi, leading to an audit objection and comment that it was compromising the life of the protectee.

“The decisions relating to security detail purchases are based on the threat perception to the protectee. These decisions are taken independently by the SPG without taking the views of the protectee,” the source said.

“The widespread discussion on the security features of the protectee’s car is not in national interest as it puts in public domain a lot of unnecessary detail. This only threatens the life of the protectee,” the source added.

The officials asserted that Modi had not given any preference on which cars to use and claimed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had in the past used Range Rovers that had actually been procured for the then Prime Minister.