Ministry of Tourism organizing Road Shows in several countries to attract Buddhist tourists

Minister of State (I/C) of Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel has informed that The Ministry of Tourism undertakes various promotional activities on an ongoing basis in the international markets including those with a Buddhist population. These promotions are undertaken with the objective of showcasing the various tourist destinations and products of the country including the Buddhist sites. Some of the important promotional initiatives taken in this regard are:

(i)         To showcase and promote the Buddhist Heritage in India and to boost tourism to the Buddhist sites in the country, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, organizes an International Buddhist Conclave biennially. Participants in the conclave include eminent Buddhist scholars, opinion makers, tour operators and media personalities from overseas.

(ii)        The Ministry of Tourism has organized Road Shows in Yangon (Myanmar), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Bangkok (Thailand) in May 2018 for promotion of India’s Buddhist Heritage.

(iii)       The Ministry of Tourism has produced a short film on Buddhist sites in the country which has been promoted through the digital and electronic media.

(iv)       The Ministry of Tourism has launched a dedicated website on important Buddhist sites in India i.e indiathelandofbuddha.in. This website aims to promote and showcase the rich Buddhist Heritage in India.

Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme Udan-3, 46 tourism routes have been incorporated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These include important Buddhist destinations such as Kushinagar, Varanasi (Sarnath) and Gaya (Bodhgaya). Some of the important destinations such as Gaya and Varanasi are already connected with important Buddhist source markets such as Thailand, Srilanka, Bhutan, etc.

Ministry of Tourism under its Schemes of  Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD and Assistance to Central Agencies, provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments/ Union Territory (UT) Administrations/Central Agencies for development of  infrastructure and facilities at thematic tourist circuits in the country and for holistic development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destinations. The projects under these schemes are identified for development in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier.

 

PROJECTs SANCTIONED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES IN BUDDHIST SITES

 

 SWADESH DARSHAN

(Rs. in Crore)

S. No.	Name of State	Name of Circuit & Year	Project Name	Amt. Sanctioned	Amt. Released
1.	Madhya Pradesh	Buddhist Circuit (2016-17)	Development of Sanchi-Satna-Rewa-Mandsaur-Dhar in Madhya Pradesh.	74.94	54.51
2.	Uttar Pradesh	Buddhist Circuit (2016-17)	Development of Srawasti, Kushinagar, & Kapilvastu in Uttar Pradesh.	99.97	45.03
3.	Bihar	Buddhist Circuit (2016-17)	Construction of Convention Centre adjacent to Maya Sarovar on the western side at Bodhgaya, Bihar	98.73	19.75
4.	Gujarat	Buddhist circuit (2017-18)	Development of Junagadh- Gir- Somnath- Bharuch-Kutch- Bhavnagar- Rajkot- Mehsana in Gujarat	35.99	7.20
5.	Andhra Pradesh	Buddhist Circuit (2017-18)	Development of Shalihundam-Thotlakonda- Bavikonda- Bojjanakonda- Amravati- Anupu in Andhra Pradesh	52.34	10.47
6.	Development of Wayside Amenities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (Sub- Scheme) (2018-19)		Development of Wayside Amenities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar at Varanasi-Gaya; Gorakhpur-Kushinagar; Kushinagar-Gaya-Kushinagar; Lucknow-Ayodhya- Lucknow in collaboration with MoRTH	19.75	0.00
Total				381.72	136.96

 

 

PRASHAD

(Rs. in Crore)

S. No.	Name of State	Name of City	Project Name & Year	Amt. Sanctioned	Amt. Released
1.	Uttar Pradesh	Varanasi	Development of Varanasi 2015-16	20.40	16.32
2	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati	Development of Amaravati Town 2015-16	28.36	22.69

 

SCHEME FOR ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL AGENCIES FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

(Rs. in Crore)

S. No.	Name of State	Name of City	Project Name & Year	Amt. Sanctioned	Amt. Released
1	Uttar Pradesh	Varanasi	Illumination of monuments in Varanasi/ Sarnath (Dhamekh Stupa in SarnathChaukhandi Stupa in Sarnath, Tomb of Lalkan in Sarnath and Man Mahal in Banaras).	5.12	3.18