Enthused by foreign tourist inflows touching the 5 million mark in 2007 and encouraging trends in domestic tourism, the government has launched a policy initiative to develop tourist destinations and circuits of national importance in “a holistic and integrated manner”.

The objective is to ensure that the infrastructure of these mega destinations or circuits is developed so that it can cater to future tourist inflows, the tourism and culture ministry said today.

The centres, identified in consultation with the state governments on the basis of data indicating footfalls and potential arrivals, include Agra (revitalisation of Taj), Varanasi-Sarnath, Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Nalanda, illumination of monuments of Delhi, Mahabalipuram, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Konark-Chilka, Haridwar-Rishikesh, Hampi, Gangtok, Ajmer, Pushkar, Kurukshetra and Charminar area of Hyderabad. The Jagdalpur-Tirathgarh-Chitrakoot-Barsoo circuit, Dwarka, Tirupati, churches of Goa, Ganga Heritage River Cruise Circuit, Vidarbha circuit, Aurangabad and Amritsar are also earmarked for development as mega destinations.

The ‘Incredible India’ campaign has led to immense interest and awareness and is likely to result in significantly larger numbers of tourists traveling to and within the country. All this requires infrastructure, particularly at the key destinations/circuits. Under this new initiative, the ministry of tourism will provide financial assistance up to Rs 25 crore for development of a mega destination and Rs 50 crore for a mega circuit.

The ministry is also working with other Central ministries and the state governments concerned to achieve convergence and synergy with other government programmes so that the impact of investment on these destinations is maximised.

The ministry has already sanctioned Rs 102 crore for mega projects at Agra, Varanasi-Sarnath, Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Nalanda, and illumination of monuments of Delhi, Mahabalipuram, Kurukshetra and Charminar area of Hyderabad.

The ministry said its objective is to ensure that with enhanced investments and an integrated approach, the mega destinations will be developed to maximise their potential. The resulting increase in tourist inflows, in turn, will lead to economic development and employment generation in and around these places, the ministry hopes.