Question : TOURIST CIRCUITS UNDER SPECIAL THEMES

(a) whether the Government proposes to create 50 showpiece tourism circuits to attract tourists across the country;

(b) if so, the details of proposed/pending and finalized Tourism Circuits, Tourism Parks, Spe- cial Themes and Rural Tourism Clusters identified by the Government in the country during the 12th Five Year Plan, State/UT-wise and category-wise;

(c) the funds allocated and expenditure incurred during the last three years, year-wise;

(d) whether the Union Government has received requests/proposals from various States for inclusion of more such tourism circuits/parks and clusters; and

(e) if so, the details thereof, State-wise along with the status of the proposals?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a) to (e): Ministry of Tourism has identified 50 circuits for development of tourism. The detailed list of the 50 circuits/destinations is given at Annexure-I. This has been shared with the States/ UTs. These circuits/destinations cover major and relevant tourist places and attractions and have a judicious mix of culture, heritage, spiritua- lism and ecotourism to give tourists a holistic perspective of the country.

Further in pursuance of Budget Announcement 2014-15 the Ministry of Tourism has formulated a plan scheme SWADESH DARSHAN for integrated development of tou- rist circuits around specific themes. The five circuits indentified under this scheme are: Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit and North-East Circuit.

At present, Ministry of Tourism does not have any proposal for development of Tourism Parks and Rural Tourism Clusters.

The State/U.T. wise list of tourism projects and amount sanctioned for the year 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 (till 31.12.2014) is given at Annexure-II.

The development and promotion of tourism is prima- rily the responsibility of the respective State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to various State Gove- rnments/Union Territory Administrations for vari- ous tourism projects prioritized every year in consultation with them subject to availability of funds, inter-se priority, liquidation of pe- nding utilization certificates against the funds released earlier and adherence to the scheme guidelines.