Category: India

The retro, classic Italian brand, Lambretta, is planning a return to India with a prototype debut at the Auto Expo 2020 (February 6-9). Lambretta will come in an electric avatar, but expect it to retain the classic design. The product is currently under development in Milan and the Italian company has tied up with the Delhi-based Lohia Auto Ltd and Bird Group to sell the products in India. The company has not disclosed the product specifications and the name of the product yet. Lambretta is collaborating with a global company to develop the electric two-wheeler. Lambretta has also announced the development of ... Read more

Revenue generated through entry fee for ticketed monuments of ASI has shown an increase over last 3 years, said Dr Mahesh Sharma,  Minister of State (independent charge) for Culture and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate change. The amount spent for conservation, preservation and maintenance of centrally protected monuments/sites in the country during the last three years is as under: 2015-16 – Rs 23746.25 lakh 2016-17 – Rs 30176.22 lakh 2017-18 – Rs 41076.79 lakh There are 3691 monuments/sites declared as of National importance falls under the jurisdiction of Archaeological Survey of India of which 116 monuments are ticketed monuments. The ... Read more

The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered to constitute an official panel to screen and identify new tourism projects in the state under the Prime Minister’s Development Package. (PMDP). The members of the committee include administrative secretary forest, environment & ecology department, administrative secretary, tourism department and tourism directors for Kashmir and Jammu divisions. As per the order issued by the general administration department (GAD), the committee shall be headed by the administrative secretary, planning, development and monitoring department. An official spokesperson said in Jammu on Tuesday that the State Administrative Council (SAC) under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned the project “Development of Ahmedabad- Rajkot- Porbandar-Bardoli- Dandi” in Gujarat under Heritage Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan scheme in the year 2016-17 for Rs 93.48 crore. The components sanctioned for Dandi under the above project include Tourist Facilitation Centre, Site Illumination, Development of Parking, Landscaping, Handicraft store/Khadi Exhibition Centre, Basic Tourist Amenities like public toilets, drinking water ATMs etc. “The project is under implementation stage. As per the utilization certificate received form the State Government an expenditure of Rs 2.69 crore has been incurred at Dandi,” said Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K ... Read more

Buoyed by the success of many tourism initiatives under Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015, the Government of Jammu & Kashmir has taken yet another leap by proposing to open up more tourists/trekking routes in the region of Ladakh with the aim of recapturing the glory, rich culture and beauty of the region. With the objective of giving fillip to the tourism sector and enhancing the economic activity in the “Land of High Passes” (Ladakh region) of J&K, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the proposal of State Government of J&K to open up more tourists/trekking routes in the region. The ... Read more

There will be scores of pilgrims and tourists arriving for the Kumbh Mela 2019, and, to welcome the pilgrims and tourists, the railways said it will run 800 special trains from various stations of Allahabad district. These trains would be in addition to the regular trains run by the North Central Railway (NCR). Six special trains will come to Allahabad from different railway zones of the country for pilgrims and tourists participating in the Kumbh Mela. The railways has planned to operate four to five special trains to ferry 5,000 Pravasi Bhartiyas, who will be in Allahabad to participate in the ... Read more

Now, travellers can enjoy a toy train ride in Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). The first ever evening daily Toy train service hauled by steam engine has been introduced to increase the tourist footfall in the destination. The Railways is expecting that the introduction of the new service will provide an opportunity to tourists having short stay at Siliguri area to experience the UNESCO World Heritage DHR toy train during second half of the day. The UP Steam evening safari will leave Siliguri at 3 pm and reach Rongtong at 4.20 pm with 10 minute stoppage at Sukna for visiting the museum. The return ... Read more

Over 100 kilometres of city roads in Bengaluru will have dedicated cycle tracks soon. The first phase of the project, which covers 46 km stretch, will be ready in an year’s time. The phase 1 includes four roads in Indiranagar and a portion of the Outer Ring Road. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), have floated bids for the construction of cycle tracks at a cost of Rs 64 crore. The 12 kn ORR stretch between K R Puram and Bellandur, 7 km stretch between Marathahalli and Hoodi via Brookefield, 2 km stretch between Ulsoor lake and Swami Vivekananda Metro ... Read more

The country’s first underwater museum is all set to come up off Puducherry coast. The new addition is expected to give a fillip to the tourism sector in the Union territory. INS Cuddalore, a minesweeper decommissioned in March after it travelled 30,000 nautical miles in 30 years, will be turned into a museum. The minesweeper will be deployed in the seabed 7 km off Puducherry at a depth of 26 metres. The 60-metre long and 12-metre wide vessel will be a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkelling. The Navy has agreed to gift the vessel to promote tourism in Puducherry. ... Read more

Booking of Railway reserved tickets through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) mobile app can be made using various payment modes enabled by Government or private banks through Multiple Payment Providers. Presently, there are five Multiple Payment Providers integrated on IRCTC mobile app. The Government payment gateways that are enabled for booking tickets through IRCTC mobile app are netbanking, debit cards, credit cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM). All these payment gateways are provided by five Multiple Payment Providers integrated on IRCTC Mobile App. IRCTC has issued guidelines for integration of the payment providers ... Read more

Hazara Rama Temple, Hampi The ‘Adopt A Heritage – Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’, scheme launched on 27th September, 2017 is a collaborative effort by Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments. The programme envisages development and maintenance of tourist amenities at heritage sites and making them tourist friendly, to enhance tourism potential and cultural importance in a planned and phased manner. The project primarily focuses on providing basic amenities that include cleanliness, public conveniences, safe drinking water, ease of access for tourists, signages, illumination, Wi-fi etc. Gangotri Temple, Uttarakhand The Project envisages involvement ... Read more

Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the project for construction of a 5.634 km long new 4 – lane bridge across river Ganga, 38 meters on upstream side of the existing Mahatma Gandhi Setu (MG Setu), along with approaches on NH-19 at Patna in the State of Bihar. The estimated project cost is Rs 2926.42 crore. The construction period for the project is three and a half years and it is likely to be completed by January, 2023. This mega project is 14.500 km long and passes through Patna, Saran ... Read more

Ramayana Circuit is one of the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry has initially identified fifteen destinations for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). The details of projects sanctioned under the Ramayana Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan during the last two years: Development of Ayodhya under Ramayana Circuit theme in Uttar Pradesh (2017-18) and Rs 133.31 crore ... Read more

The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India on medical visa during 2016 and 2017 were estimated at 4, 27, 014 and 4, 95, 056 respectively, registering a positive growth of 15.9 per cent. “Medical Tourism holds immense potential for India. The Indian systems of medicines, viz. Ayurveda, Yoga, Panchakarma, Rejuvenation Therapy, etc., are among the most ancient systems of medical treatment in the world. India can provide medical and health care of international standards at low costs. India excels in the state of the art medical facilities, reputed health care professionals, quality nursing facilities and traditional healthcare therapies,” said K J ... Read more

The water department of Maharashtra is all set to lease out 146 of its guest houses, with some 2,000 rooms near dams. The state government will float tenders in about a week regarding the same. It is proposing to lease out the guest houses for 10 years, with an annual hike of 10 per cent in rent. The guest houses were so far available only to senior government officials and political leaders. The most sought after dam and reservoir locations are Panshet near Pune, Pench near Nagpur, Bhatsa on the Mumbai-Nashik highway, Bhandardara near Nashik, Ujani in Solapur, Jaikwadi in ... Read more