The Ministry of Tourism through its ongoing schemes of ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)’, Swadesh Darshan and ‘Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD)’ – a sub-scheme of Swadesh Darshan, complements the efforts of the State Governments (SGs)/UT Administrations (UTs) by extending financial assistance to them for developing tourism related infrastructure in the country, including the State of Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Region (NCR).

The projects under these schemes are implemented by the respective States/UTs. However, the Ministry of Tourism regularly monitors the progress of the projects and also encourages respective State Government/ UT Administrations to complete the projects in a time bound manner.

The details of the projects sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Region (NCR) along with their status under the Schemes of PRASHAD, Swadesh Darshan (SD), Swadesh Darshan 2.0 and Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD), are given in the Annexure.

No proposal is under consideration of the Ministry of Tourism for development of historic Dudheshwar Nath Temple in Ghaziabad. However, receiving proposals from the State Governments/UT Administrations for financial assistance for tourism projects is a continuous process. The proposals received are examined with reference to the prescribed guidelines and financial assistance is extended for such projects subject to fulfilment of the stipulated conditions and availability of funds.

The Ministry of Tourism as part of its ongoing endeavour promotes various tourism destinations and products of the country including Buddhist sites through promotional activities such as events, website, social media promotions, fairs and festivals, etc.

This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 9^th February 2026.

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Sunil Kumar Tiwari

tourism4pib[at]gmail[dot]com

ANNEXURE

 

List of projects sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh and NCR under PRASHAD Scheme

Sr. No	State	Name of the Project	Sanction Year	Amount Sanctioned  (₹ in Crore)
1.	Uttar Pradesh	Development of Varanasi – Phase –I	2015-16	18.73
2.	Uttar Pradesh	Development of Mathura-Vrindavan as Mega Tourist Circuit (Ph-II)	2014-15	10.98
3.	Uttar Pradesh	River Cruise Tourism in Ganga, Varanasi	2017-18	9.02
4.	Uttar Pradesh	Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centre at Vrindavan	2014-15	9.36
5.	Uttar Pradesh	Development of Varanasi – Phase –II	2017-18	44.60
6.	Uttar Pradesh	Development of Infrastructure facilities at Govardhan	2018-19	37.59

 

 

List of projects sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh and NCR under Swadesh Darshan Scheme

 

Sr. no.	State/UT	Circuit / Sanction Year	Name of the Project	Amount Sanctioned (₹ in Crore)
	Rajasthan	Spiritual Circuit 2016-17	Development of Spiritual Circuit– 'Development of Churu (Salasar Balaji)-Jaipur (Shri Samodke Balaji, Ghatke Balaji, Bandheke Balaji)- Viratnagar (Bijak, Jainnasiya, Ambika Temple)- Bharatpur (Kaman Region)- Dholpur (Muchkund) - Mehndipur Balaji- Chittorgarh (Sanwaliyaji)	87.05
	Uttar Pradesh	Buddhist Circuit 2016-17	Development of Srawasti, Kushinagar, &Kapilwastu	87.89
	Uttar Pradesh	Ramayana Circuit 2016-17	Development of Chitrakoot and Shringverpur	69.45
	Uttar Pradesh	Spiritual Circuit 2016-17	Development of Ahar-Aligarh-Kasganj-Sarosi (Unnao)-Pratapgarh- Kausambi-Mirzapur-Gorakhpur-Domariyaganj-Basti-Barabanki-Azamgarh-Kairana- Baghpat- Shahjahanpur	71.91
	Uttar Pradesh	Spiritual Circuit 2016-17	Development of Bijnor- Meerut- Kanpur- Kanpur Dehat- Banda- Ghazipur- Salempur- Ghosi- Balia- Ambedkar Nagar- Aligarh- Fatehpur- Deoria- Mahoba- Sonbhadra- Chandauli- Mishrikh- Bhadohi	67.51
	Uttar Pradesh	Heritage Circuit 2016-17	Development of Kalinjar Fort (Banda)- Maghar Dham (Sant Kabir Nagar)- Chauri Chaura, Shaheed Sthal (Fatehpur)- Mahuar shaheed Sthal (Ghosi)- Shaheed Smarak (Meerut)	36.65
	Uttar Pradesh	Ramayana Circuit 2017-18	Development of Ayodhya	127.21
	Uttar Pradesh	Spiritual Circuit 2018-19	Development of Jewar-Dadri-Sikandrabad-Noida-Khurja-Banda	12.03
	Uttar Pradesh	Spiritual Circuit 2018-19	Development of Gorakhnath Temple (Gorakhpur), Devipattan Temple (Balrampur) and Vatvashni Temple (Domariyagunj)	18.30

 

List of projects sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh and NCR under Swadesh Darshan 2.0

 

Sr. no.	State	Destination	Name of the Experience	Sanctioned Year	Sanctioned Cost (₹ in Crore)
1.	Uttar Pradesh	Naimisaranya	Vedic- wellness Experience	2023-24 (Rev March 2025)	17.80
2.	Uttar Pradesh	Prayagraj	Azad Park and Dekho Prayagraj Trail Experince	2023-24 (Rev March 2025)	14.52

 

List of projects sanctioned in Uttar Pradesh and NCR under Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD)

 

State	Destination/ Category	Name of the Experience	Sanctioned Year	Sanctioned Cost (₹ in Crore)
Uttar Pradesh	Mahoba (Culture & Heritage)	Development of Cultural Landscape at Mahoba	2024-25	24.98

 

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