Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay on Sunday announced that the Centre would spend Rs 10 crore in the 2011-12 financial year for projects to promote religious tourism in Ayodhya.
Addressing a function in Ayodhya, Sahay said that Rs 5 crore for development of Ayodhya had already been sanctioned on the basis of proposal submitted by the state government. However, he said, remaining Rs 5 crore was still pending because UP government didn't submit any proposal. Sahay said that Ayodhya had the potential of attracting international tourists.
However, he said, the religious place did not seems to be on the priority list of the BSP government. As a result, it's nowhere on the national tourism map. "But I want to develop Ayodhya - birth place of Rama - as major tourism hub," he said.
Sahay also said that in the 12th five year plan, Rs 200 crore has been allocated for development of tourism in UP. He promised that Centre was ready to fund development work in Ayodhya, but for that state government would have to file proposals. He said that Mayawati government perhaps had not realized the economic and political importance of religious tourism.
» Read Complete News.....(You need to login first to read complete news). New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News