Over Rs 1700 cr approved for 24 projects in 2015-16: Govt

Tourism Ministry has sanctioned over Rs 1700 crore under its various schemes during 2015-16, which is an increase of around 60 per cent, as compared to the amount approved in 2014-15, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In 2015-16, 24 projects got the nod with amount sanctioned to the tune of Rs 1,719.11 crore, while in 2014-15, Rs 1,076.55 crore were approved for 95 projects, Minister of State for Tourism Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply.
During 2015-16, the maximum amount of Rs 129.65 crore was sanctioned for two projects in Assam, followed by Rs 115.50 crore for the same number of projects in Uttarakhand.

Two projects in Rajasthan got approval for Rs 104.40 crore while in Chhattisgarh and Tripura, one project each was sanctioned for Rs 99.94 crore and Rs 99.59 crore respectively.
Apart from these, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh got the nod for Rs 99.22 crore of one project each in both the states, while Sikkim was sanctioned Rs 98.05 crore for a project.
Not a single project was approved in Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.
To another query, Sharma said Rs 271 crore were approved for "Eco Circuits" in Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Kerala, while Rs 197 crore for "Tribal Circuits" in Chhattisgarh and Nagaland.

Eco and Tribal circuits are part of 13 theme-based tourist circuits identified for development across the country under 'Swadesh Darshan' scheme.