Parliament Question: Development of tourism in Himachal Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1585# ANSWERED ON 12.02.2026 DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN HIMACHAL PRADESH 1585# SHRI HARSH MAHAJAN:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

(a) the schemes/programmes currently being implemented by Government to promote tourism and strengthen the tourism-based economy in Himachal Pradesh;

(b) the concrete steps taken by Government to enhance tourism infrastructure, homestays, adventure tourism, religious/eco-tourism and local employment generation in the State; and

(c) whether any new special scheme has been proposed to encourage rural tourism and develop tourist destinations/villages that are not featuring prominently on the tourism map and if so, the details thereof along with the proposed budget for the State? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) to (b): Promotion and Development of tourist places is primarily undertaken by the concerned State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration. However, the Ministry of Tourism as part of its ongoing endeavour, promotes various tourism destinations and products of India including the states of Himachal Pradesh in a holistic manner, through various initiatives including promotional events, Central financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH) Scheme for organising fairs, festivals and tourism related events.

The Ministry under the schemes of Swadesh Darshan (SD), National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) provides financial assistance to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations and for the development of tourism-related infrastructure in the country including the State of Himachal Pradesh. The Ministry of Tourism has now revamped its Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible destinations following a tourist & destination centric approach, in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations. The Ministry of Tourism has issued guidelines for Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD), a sub-scheme under Swadesh Darshan 2.0. This sub-scheme aims for holistic development of destination to enhance tourist experience across all of tourist value chain to transform our tourist destinations as sustainable and responsible destinations. In addition to this, the Ministry of Tourism has issued Operational Guidelines and template for Detailed Project Report for Special assistance to States for capital investment (SASCI)- Development of Iconic Tourist Centres to Global Scale to the State Governments. The Central Financial Assistancescheme under Assistance to Central Agencies (ACA) provides support to Central Agencies such as ITDC, WAPCOS, BECIL, ASI, Port trust of India, M/o Railways etc. for tourism infrastructure development.

The Ministry of Tourism has put in place the Scheme of Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP) to provide education, training and certification to the tourism service providers covering different levels of Hospitality sector. The main objective of this initiative is to train and up-grade manpower at every strata of tourism service providers in order to capitalize the vast tourism potential of the country including the State of Himachal Pradesh to the fullest, and provide professional expertise. The training programme implemented through the CBSP scheme aims to increase the employability of the tourism service providers so that they can move from informal to formal jobs leading to increased earnings and or improved working condition.

To position India as a preferred destination for adventure tourism and Eco-tourism globally, Ministry of Tourism has formulated two separate National Strategies for Adventure Tourism and Eco-tourism.

The Government of India has announced collateral free institutional credit of Mudra Loans for Homestays in the Budget Announcement for 2025-26 to encourage setting up of homestays across the country for optimum harnessing of tourism potential across the country including Himachal Pradesh.

(c): The following initiatives of Ministry of Tourism towards Rural Tourism are as under: -

(1) National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India - An initiative towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. The strategy document focuses on the following

key pillars:

(i) Model policies and best practices for rural tourism

(ii) Digital technologies and platforms for rural tourism

(iii) Developing clusters for rural tourism

(iv) Marketing support for rural tourism

(v) Capacity building of stakeholders

(vi) Governance and institutional framework

(2) A Task Force for Development of Rural Tourism was constituted under the Chairpersonship of by Secretary (T), comprising of representatives from identified Central Ministries/ organizations, State Governments/UT Administrations and Industry Stakeholders.

(3) The Ministry of Tourism conducted two editions of the Best Tourism Villages competition to honour villages that best exemplifies a tourism destination that preserves and promotes community-based values, goods, and lifestyles, and has a clear commitment to sustainability with the overarching goal of making tourism one of the drivers of positive change. Seventy-one villages have been recognized as Best Tourism Villages so far.

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