Swadesh Darshan and Prasad Schemes of M/O Tourism

Under the plan scheme ‘Swadesh Darshan’ and ‘PRASAD’ the Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, for various tourism projects subject to availability of funds, liquidation of pending utilization certificates and adherence to the scheme guidelines.

            Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, thirteen thematic circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

Under the PRASAD scheme thirteen sites have been identified for development, namely: Amritsar, Ajmer, Dwaraka, Mathura, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Amaravati, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Kedarnath, Kamakhya and Patna.

Under the ‘PRASAD’ scheme the focus is on development and beautification of the identified pilgrimage destinations. Whereas, in the ‘Spiritual Circuit’ identified under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the thrust is on development of particular thematic circuit consisting of various religious/spiritual destination in a State and Union Territory.

            In pursuance to the Budget Announcements of 2014-15, both the schemes were launched in January 2015. The projects sanctioned under the schemes are generally commissioned in 18 to 36 months. The details of State/UT-wise, circuit-wise and city-wise funds sanctioned and released under the above schemes are given below.

Details of projects sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD schemes from 2014-15 till date.

SWADESH DARSHAN SCHEME

Sr. No	Name of Theme	State	Name of Project	Sanction Amount (Rs. crore)	Release Amount (Rs. Crore)
Year 2014-15
1	Coastal Circuit	Andhra Pradesh	Development of Kakinada Hope Island Konaseema as World class coastal & Eco Tourism Circuit in Andhra Pradesh	69.83	13.96
2	North East India Circuit	Arunachal Pradesh	Development of Bhalukpong-Bomdila-Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh	49.77	10.00
3	Buddhist Circuit	Bihar	Construction of Cultural Centre adjacent to Maya Sarovar on the western side at Bodhgaya, Bihar.	33.17	6.63
Year 2015-16
1	North East India Circuit	Manipur	Development of Tourist Circuit in Manipur: Imphal-Moirang-Khongjom-Moreh	89.66	17.93
2	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	98.05	19.61
3	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	80.37	16.07
4	Coastal Circuit	Andhra Pradesh	Development of Coastal Tourism Circuit in Sri Potti Sriramalu Nellore in Andhra Pradesh	60.38	12.08
5	North East India Circuit	Arunachal Pradesh	Integrated Development of New Adventure Tourism  in Arunachal Pradesh  under North East Circuit of Swadesh Darshan	97.14	19.43
6	Eco Tourism Circuit	Kerala	Development of Pathanamthitta- Gavi-Vagamon-Thekkady as Eco Tourism Circuit in Idduki and Pahanamthitta Districts in Kerala under Swadesh Darshan scheme.	99.22	19.84
7	Desert Circuit	Rajasthan	Development of Sambhar Lake Town and Other Destinations in Jaipur District, Rajasthan under Desert Circuit in Swadesh Darshan scheme.	63.96	12.79
8	Tribal Circuit	Nagaland	Development of Tribal Circuit Peren –Kohima-Wokha, Nagaland	97.36	19.47
9	Eco Circuit	Telangana	Integrated Development of Eco Tourism Circuit in Mahaboobnagar district, Telangana under Swadesh Darshan scheme.	91.62	18.32
10	Wild Life Circuit	Madhya Pradesh	Development of Wildlife Circuit at Panna – Mukundpur-Sanjay-Dubri-Bandhavgarh-Kanha-Mukki-Pench in Madhya Pradesh under Swadesh Darshan scheme.	92.22	18.44
11	Wildlife Circuit	Assam	Manas– Pobitora- Nameri- Kaziranga- Dibru Saikhowa as Wild Life Circuit in Assam.	95.67	19.13
12	North East India Circuit	Tripura	Development of North East Circuit : Agartala - Sipahijala - Melaghar - Udaipur - Amarpur - Tirthamukh - Mandirghat – Dumboor- NarikelKunja - Gandachara – Ambassa in Tripura.	99.59	19.92
13	Eco Tourism Circuit	Mizoram	Integrated Development of New Eco-Tourism under Swadesh Darshan-North East Circuit at Thenzawl & South Zote, District Serchhip and Reiek, Mizoram.	94.91	18.98
14	Coastal Circuit	West Bengal	Development of Beach Circuit  in West Bengal  – Udaipur - Digha – Shankarpur – Tajpur – Mandarmani – Fraserganj – Bakkhlai -Henry Island.	85.39	17.08
15	Coastal Circuit	Puducherry	Development of Union Territory of Puducherry as Tourist Circuit under “Swadesh Darshan” Scheme	85.28	17.06

PRASAD SCHEME

Sl. No		State		Name of the project	Sanction Amount (Rs.crore)	Release Amount (Rs. Crore)
Year- 2014-15
1.		Bihar		Development of basic facilities at Vishnupad temple, Gaya, Bihar	4.29	0.86
2.		Uttar Pradesh		Development of Mathura-Vrindavan as Mega Tourist Circuit (Ph-II)	14.93	2.99
3.		Uttar Pradesh		Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centre at Vrindavan, Distt. Mathura	9.36	1.75
4.		Odisha		Infrastructure Development at Puri, Shree Jagannath Dham- Ramachandi-Prachi River front at Deuli under Mega Circuit	50.00	10.00
Year – 2015-16
1	Punjab		Development of Karuna Sagar Valmiki Sthal at Amritsar		6.45	1.29
2	Rajasthan		Integrated Development of Pushkar/Ajmer		40.44	8.09
3	Andhra Pradesh		Development of amaravati Town, Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh as Tourist Destination		28.36	5.67
4	Assam		Development of Kamakhya Temple and Pilgrimage Destination in and around Guwahati		33.98	6.80
5	Bihar		Development at Patna Sahib		41.54	8.31

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