Parliament Question: Development of tourism infrastructure in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2377 ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026 DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE IN TAMIL NADU 2377 SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN: Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state: (a) whether Tamil Nadu has emerged as one of the top preferred tourist destinations in the country for ancient temples, heritage monuments, hill stations, beach and coastal tourism during the last five years and the current year and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Central Government provides financial assistance for the development of infrastructure facilities around ancient temples, heritage monuments, beaches as high-end tourism destinations; and (c) if so, the details thereof, including the names of schemes or programmes and the funds sanctioned and released? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT) (a): The Ministry of Tourism compiles information on Domestic and Foreign Tourist Visits from the State/UT governments. As per the information available with the Ministry, during the last five years, Tamil Nadu has remained in the top 2 States/UTs in terms of the number of visitors. The state wise number of tourist visitors during the last five years is given at Annexure-I. This includes visitors to ancient temples, heritage monuments, hill stations, beach and coastal tourism. (b) and (c): While development and promotion of tourism destinations and products is primarily undertaken by the concerned State Government (SG)/Union Territory Administration (UTA), Ministry of Tourism through its central sector schemes complements the efforts of tourism infrastructure development in the country by extending financial assistance to the SGs/UTAs; on receipt of the project proposals from the concerned State Government/Union Territory Administration in synergy with the scheme guidelines, Government directions, availability of funds, inter-se priority etc. The details of the projects sanctioned under ‘Swadesh Darshan (SD), ‘Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0)’, ‘Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD), a sub-scheme of Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme’ and ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)’ ’are given in Annexure-II. In addition, Government of India under its Special Assistance to ‘States for Capital Investment (SASCI) – Development of iconic Tourist Centres to Global Scale’ has also sanctioned projects in the country in Financial Year 2024-25, with the primary objective to comprehensively develop iconic tourist centres in the country including in the state of Tamil Nadu, branding and marketing them at global scale. Details of Assistance to Central Agencies schemes in the state of Tamil Nadu is provided as Annexure-II. *******ANNEXURE-I STATEMENT IN REPLY OF PART (a) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2377 ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026 REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE IN TAMIL NADU RAISED BY SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN. State wise number of tourist visitors during the last five years States/UTs 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Uttar Pradesh 87013225 109753172 318562573 480127191 649076213 Tamil Nadu 141879564 115394341 218991972 287186414 308003316 Karnataka 77618664 81406146 182541723 284529835 305048773 Andhra Pradesh 70896181 93305120 192882566 254766754 290528883 Rajasthan 15563696 22023540 108724840 180751794 232156605 Maharashtra 40497000 43754881 112809247 164747266 193076711 West Bengal 29305017 24360812 85579212 148376234 187599989 Gujarat 19674564 24536529 137588540 180873450 186288552 Madhya Pradesh 23619451 25595668 36053235 112129094 133343945 Telengana 40043695 32006537 60816826 58608485 88394988 Bihar 5946104 2502239 25417193 82132277 66200024 Uttarakhand 7046603 19443007 54704120 57713605 60988435 Jharkhand 2575194 3385279 38476698 35965363 54086062 Delhi 10264901 10742655 28001922 41242738 48256410 Chhattisgarh 2812549 4747425 23636529 26023022 31491385 Punjab 17051311 26948564 26418883 36449334 28286967 Jammu & Kashmir 2524841 11316570 18519317 20734673 23078159 Kerala 5329727 7598104 19212963 22520698 22985363 Himachal Pradesh 3213379 5637202 15100277 16004924 18124694 Odisha 4632479 3744490 7890030 9770357 11086673 Goa 3561466 3330217 7186791 8628152 10409197 Assam 1274183 1409697 8391004 7636538 7635339 Puducherry 1207022 1253534 1761342 2123290 2137611 Haryana 2132205 2030028 2110935 2013508 1892794 Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu 403999 661407 801393 1008375 1361527 Meghalaya 27045 154820 944865 1422647 1608610 Sikkim 336343 523177 1694218 1415077 1625241 Arunachal Pradesh 43832 103097 223492 1045097 874626 Chandigarh 430171 234260 3055604 397089 1037663 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 196619 127925 239522 332214 721894 Tripura 159692 177821 244093 432812 691475 Mizoram 31155 87466 221031 212876 427302 Ladakh 7869 304077 531396 525374 376386 Lakshadweep 3875 13504 22969 46551 68328 Manipur 52808 50019 143426 61369 31620 Nagaland 11497 24293 100354 104445 131139 ******ANNEXURE-II STATEMENT IN REPLY OF PARTS (b) AND (c) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2377 ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026 REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE IN TAMIL NADU RAISED BY SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN. A. Projects sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme as on 15.01.2026 for the State of Tamil Nadu The Ministry of Tourism under Swadesh Darshan Scheme has sanctioned one project in the State of Tamil Nadu, as given below: - (₹ in Crore) Amount S. Circuit / Amount Name of the Project Released/ No. Sanction Year Sanctioned Authorised 1. Coastal Circuit Development of (Chennai- Mamamallapuram 73.13 71.03 2016-17 – Rameshwaram – Manpadu – Kanyakumari) Total 73.13 71.03 B. Project Sanctioned under SWADESH DARSHAN 2.0 as on 15.01.2026 for the State of Tamil Nadu (₹ in Crore) Amount S. Sanctioned Destination Name of the Experience Sanctioned Date Released/ No. Cost Authorised 1. Mamallapuram Immersive experience at 2023-24 30.02 --- Shore Temple (Rev May 2025) Total 30.02 C. Details of projects sanctioned and amount released to the State of Tamil Nadu under Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD), a sub-scheme of Swadesh Darshan scheme. (₹ in Crore) S. Destination/ Name of the Sanctioned Sanctioned Amount Released/ No. Category Experience Date Cost Authorised 1. Rameswaram Iconic transformation Island of Rameswaram 2024-25 20.01 2.00 (Spiritual Tourism) Total 20.01 2.00 D. Project Sanctioned under PRASHAD Scheme in the State of Tamil Nadu: (₹ in Crore) S. No. Project Name Sanction Year Sanction Amount Amount Released 1. Development of Kanchipuram 2016-17 13.99 13.99 2. Development of Velankanni 2016-17 4.86 4.86 3. Development of 8 Navagraha 2024-25 40.94 0.00 Temples Total 59.79 18.85E. Details of projects sanctioned and amount released to the State of Tamil Nadu for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI Scheme) - Development of Iconic Tourist Centres to Global Scale. (₹ in Crore) S. Year of Sanctioned Amount Name of the Project No. Sanction Cost Released/ Development of Nandavanam Heritage Park 1. 2024-25 99.67 in Mammallapuram 112.13 2. 2024-25 Eco Park at Race Course in Ooty 70.23 Total 169.90 112.13 F. Details of projects sanctioned and amount released to the State of Tamil Nadu under the Scheme Assistance to Central Agencies. (₹ in Crore) S. Amount Amount Year Name of Fairs & Festivals No. sanctioned Released Illumination and allied works at Gangaikonda 1. 31-03-2025 11.47 0 Cholapuram Temple, District - Ariyalur Cruise Passenger Facilities Centre in the existing 2. 24-09-2012 17.24 17.24 Passenger Terminal at Chennai Port. 3. 28-03-2018 Rameshwaram Railway Station 4.7 3.75 4. 30-06-2018 Madurai Railway Station 4.48 3.56 Total 37.89 24.55 ******