Strengthening of Facilities at Tourist Destinations

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is focusing on integrated development of tourist circuits and destinations in the country. Following two new schemes have been launched in 2014-15 for this purpose:

1.      Swadesh Darshan for Integrated Development of Tourist Circuits around Specific Themes.

            Under Swadesh Darshan, integrated development of theme based circuits is taken up in order to provide engaging and complete tourism experience to both domestic and foreign tourists.

            Twelve theme based circuits i.e. North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit and Ramayana Circuit have been identified for development under “Swadesh Darshan”.

         2)  National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive   (PRASAD) to beautify and improve the amenities and infrastructure at pilgrimage centres of all faiths.

            The PRASAD Scheme integrated development of identified pilgrimage destinations is taken up in a planned, prioritized and sustainable manner to provide complete religious tourism experience to the tourists.

            Under PRASAD, initially thirteen cities have been identified namely Ajmer, Amritsar, Amravati, Dwarka, Gaya, Kamakhaya, Kanchipuram, Kedarnath, Mathura, Patna, Puri, Varanasi and Velankanni.

           

            The list of projects sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD in 2014-15 and 2015-16 (till 30.11.2015) is given below:-

The list of projects sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan during 2014-15 and 2015-16 (till 30.11.2015)

(Rs. in Crore)

Sl. No.	Name of the Circuit	State	Name of Project	Year	Amount Sanctioned
1	Coastal Circuit	Andhra Pradesh	Development of Kakinada Hope Island Konaseema as World class coastal & Eco Tourism Circuit in Andhra Pradesh	2014-15	69.83
2.	North-East India Circuit	Arunachal Pradesh	Bhalukpong-Bomdila-Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh	2014-15	50.00
3.	Buddhist Circuit	Bihar	Cultural Centre, Bodhgaya	2014-15	33.17
4	North-East India Circuit	Manipur	Development of Tourist Circuit in Manipur: Imphal-Moirang-Khongjom-Moreh	2015-16	89.66
5	North-East India Circuit	Sikkim	Development of Tourist  Circuit linking - Rangpo     (entry) - Rorathang -  Aritar -  Phadamchen - Nathang - Sherathang - Tsongmo - Gangtok - Phodong - Mangan - Lachung  - Yumthang - Lachen - Thangu -   Gurudongmer - Mangan - Gangtok - Tumin Lingee - Singtam (exit) in Sikkim	2015-16	98.05
6	Eco Circuit	Uttarakhand	Integrated Development of Eco-Tourism, Adventure Sports, Associated Tourism related Infrastructure for Development of Tehri Lake & Surroundings as New Destination-District Tehri, Uttarakhand	2015-16	80.37
7	Desert Circuit	Rajasthan	Development of Sambhar Lake Town and Other Destinations under Desert Circuit in Swadesh Darshan Scheme	2015-16	63.96
8	Tribal Circuit	Nagaland	Development of Tribal Circuit Peren –Kohima-Wokha, Nagaland	2015-16	97.36
Total					582.40

The State-wise details of the funds sanctioned under PRASAD Scheme during the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 (till 02.12.2015)

(Rs. in Crore)

Sl. No.	Name of the State &  project	Year	Amount Sanctioned
	BIHAR
1.	Development of basic facilities at Vishnupad temple, Gaya, Bihar	2014-15	4.29
	UTTAR PRADESH
2.	Development of Mathura-Vrindavan as Mega Tourist Circuit (Ph-II)	2014-15	14.93
3.	Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centre at Vrindavan, Distt. Mathura	2014-15	9.36
	ODISHA
4.	Infrastructure Development at Puri, Shree Jagannath Dham- Ramachandi-Prachi River front at Deuli under Mega Circuit	2014-15	50.00
	PUNJAB
5.	Development of Karuna Sagar Valmiki Sthal at Amritsar	2015-16	6.45
	RAJASTHAN
6.	Integrated Development of Pushkar/Ajmer	2015-16	40.44
	Andhra Pradesh
7.	Development of amaravati Town, Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh as Tourist Destination	2015-16	28.36
	Assam
8.	Development of Kamakhya Temple and Pilgrimage Destination in and around Guwahati.	2015-16	33.98
	Grand Total		187.81

                       

This information was given by Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Courtesy: pib.nic.in