New Delhi, July 10 (IANS): The central government Thursday proposed allocation of Rs.500 crore for setting up five tourist circuits around specific themes to strengthen the tourism industry.
"India's rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritage provides a huge potential for the development of tourism and job creation as an industry," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while presenting the budget for 2014-15.
"I propose to create five tourist circuits around specific themes and set aside a sum of Rs.500 crore for this purpose," he added.
Apart from this, Jaitley also allocated Rs.100 crore for launching a national mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).
To conserve and preserve heritage characters of some cities, a National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) will also be launched.
"I propose to launch this programme in the cities such as Mathura, Amritsar, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Vellankani and Ajmer," said Jaitley.
"I propose to set aside a sum of Rs.200 crore for this purpose. It will work through a partnership of government, academic institutions and local community combining affordable technologies," he added.