Finance Minister increases budget for Tourism, allocates Rs 2,500 crore

Presenting the Budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (Feb 1, 2020) announced that Rs 2,500 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Tourism and Rs 3,150 crore for the Ministry of Culture. Previously, the fund for Tourism Ministry had been hiked to Rs 2,189.22 crore in 2019-2020, from Rs 2,150 crore in the 2018-2019 Budget. The allocation for the Culture Ministry had been increased to Rs 3,042.35 crore for 2019-2020, from Rs 2,843.32 crore in 2018-2019.

While announcing the budget for the year 2020-21 the Finance Minister announced the development of on-site museums at five archaeological sites in the states of Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. The on-site museums would be developed at Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, Sivasagar in Assam, Dholavira in Gujarat and Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. The Finance Minister also proposed setting up of a Tribal Museum in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.

The proposal to set up an Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation under the Ministry of Culture was also announced by the Minister.

Sitharaman also said more Tejas Express trains will be started to connect various iconic tourist destinations across the country. Introduced in May 2017, the Tejas-class trains are the country’s first semi-high speed fully air-conditioned trains with modern onboard facilities. Currently, Tejas trains are operational on four routes in the country–Mumbai-Goa, Chennai Egmore-Madurai, New Delhi-Lucknow and Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Proposed to establish Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation

2. 8 New Museums proposed, 5 Museums set for a major overhaul

3. 5 Iconic sites to see Infrastructure development

4. 100 more airports to be developed by 2024 to support UDAAN Scheme

5. More Tejas Express trains will be started to connect various iconic tourist destinations across the country