Parliament Question: Promotion of Community-based Tourism in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*113 ANSWERED ON 27.07.2026 PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN TAMIL NADU *113. SHRI SELVAM G: DR. RANI SRIKUMAR: Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has taken steps to promote community- based tourism in Tamil Nadu with the active participation of local communities, artisans, women self help groups, tribal groups and traditional cultural performers; (b) if so, the details of schemes, projects and financial assistance provided during the last three years, district-wise; (c) whether tourism circuits linked to heritage towns, temples, handicrafts, coastal villages, eco-tourism destinations and rural tourism clusters in Tamil Nadu have been developed under such initiatives; (d) the details of the number of local artisans, self-help groups and community organisations benefited and the employment generated through these programmes; and (e) the details of the further steps proposed to strengthen community- led tourism and improve income opportunities for rural and traditional communities in the State? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF TOURISM (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT) (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. ******STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*113 ANSWERED ON 27.07.2026 REGARDING PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN TAMIL NADU RAISED BY SHRI SELVAM G. AND DR. RANI SRIKUMAR (a) to (e): Development and promotion of tourist destinations and products is primarily undertaken by the respective State Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration. The Ministry complements the efforts of States/UTs through various schemes and initiatives. The Ministry of Tourism through its central sector schemes of ‘Swadesh Darshan, ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) and ‘Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development ’extends financial assistance to the State Governments /UT Administrations for tourism infrastructure development in the country. Ministry of Tourism identified Heritage Circuit, Coastal circuit, Eco circuit, Rural Circuit and Tribal Circuit as some thematic circuits under its Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The central financial assistance is being extended according to guidelines and based on proposals / detailed project reports received from the States and UT Governments. The Ministry of Tourism has revamped the Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations, following a destination & tourism - centric approach and the scheme encourages adoption of principles of sustainable tourism including environmental sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability and economic sustainability including employment generation.As per Section 2.3 of the above scheme, the following are the strategic objectives: (i) To enhance the contribution of tourism to the local economies (ii) To create jobs including self-employment for local communities (iii) To enhance the skills of local youth in tourism and hospitality (iv) To increase private sector investment in tourism and hospitality (v) To preserve and enhance the local cultural and natural resources The scheme stipulates that the States will ensure due consultation with local communities and stakeholders while preparing projects for the development of destinations, there will be adequate focus on capacity building among local communities in particular youth and women to enable them to take up jobs and opportunities in the tourism sector and that the States will encourage local entrepreneurship and self- employment opportunities in the tourism value chain. The Special assistance to States for capital investment (SASCI) scheme for developing iconic tourist centres in the country, envisages local economy growth and creating employment opportunities through sustainable tourism projects. The challenge-based destination development scheme which is a sub scheme under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme stipulates that proposals submitted should also demonstrate alignment with key tourism priorities namely Green Tourism, Digitalization, Skills, Tourism MSMEs and Destination Management and Jan Bhagidari, active participation and involvement of the local community.Under the above schemes, the Ministry considers sanctioning a range of components which may enhance tourism facilitation at the destinations, as per project requirement including those related to tourism core products, tourism activities, safety, sanitation, last mile connectivity, parking, general site development, soft interventions etc. The Ministry has sanctioned projects amounting to Rs. 390.74 Crores in the State of Tamil Nadu under these schemes, the details of which are given at Annexure I. The Ministry of Tourism also provides funds on receipt of proposals from the States and UTs for organizing fairs & festivals and tourism related events in the country under the Scheme “Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH). The details of funds sanctioned in the State of Tamil Nadu for the same are given at Annexure II. The Government has approved the initiative to develop tribal home- stays under Swadesh Darshan Scheme, as part of ‘Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan’. The said intervention includes development of 1000 homestays with support of up to Rs.5 Lakh per unit (for new construction), up to Rs.3 Lakh (renovation) and Rs.5 Lakh for village community requirement. A national responsible tourism initiative by the name of 'Paryatan Mitra' and 'Paryatan Didi' was launched in 2024 and since then around 4300 people have been trained. It targets the local service providers which includes women and marginalised communities.The Ministry of Tourism supported establishment of 21 central IHMs, 35 State IHMs and 13 Food Craft Institutes (FCIs) in the country including in Tamil Nadu. The Ministry of Tourism conducts hospitality and tourism related short-term training certificate courses for skilling, up skilling and re skilling of trainees across the Country under its “Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP)” scheme through empanelled private institutes and Government institutes including Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Food Craft Institutes, Indian Culinary Institute, etc. A total of approximately 4,57,544 candidates have been trained from 2014-15 to 2025-26 under the scheme and 29490 have been trained under the scheme in the State of Tamil Nadu. The Ministry of Tourism has formulated National Strategies for Development of Rural Tourism and Rural Homestays which was circulated to all States/ UTs for necessary / appropriate action. The Ministry also launched the ‘Travel for LiFE’, a sectoral program under Mission Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE). The objective of Travel for LiFE is to promote mainstreaming of sustainability in the tourism sector, create awareness and nudge tourists and tourism businesses to adopt sustainable practices synchronous with nature. *******ANNEXURE-I STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*113 ANSWERED ON 27.07.2026 REGARDING PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN TAMIL NADU RAISED BY SHRI SELVAM G. AND DR. RANI SRIKUMAR List of projects sanctioned in the State of Tamil Nadu: S. Name of Project Amount No. Sanctioned (in ₹ Crore) A Swadesh Darshan 1.0 i. Development of Chennai- Mamamallapuram – 73.13 Rameshwaram – Manpadu – Kanyakumari (December 2015) Total Sanction Cost 73.13 B Swadesh Darshan 2.0 i. Immersive experience at Shore Temple 30.02 (March 2024- Rev May 2025) Total Sanction Cost 30.02 C Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD) i. Iconic transformation of Rameswaram under 20.01 Spiritual (March 2025) Total Sanction Cost 20.01 D PRASHAD i. Development of Kanchipuram (Aug 2020) 13.99 ii. Development of Velankanni (May 2020) 4.86 iii. Development of 8 Navagraha Temples 40.94 (March 2025) Total Sanction Cost 59.79 E Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) i. Nandavanam Heritage Park (Nov 2024) 99.67 ii. Eco Park at Race Course in Ooty 70.23 (Nov 2024, Revised Sanction in Dec 2025) Total Sanction Cost 169.9 F Assistance to Central Agencies (ACA)i. Cruise Passenger Facilities Centre in the existing 17.24 Passenger Terminal at Chennai Port. (September 2012) ii. Illumination and allied works at Gangaikonda 11.47 Cholapuram Temple, District – Ariyalur (March 2025) iii. Rameshwaram Railway Station (March 2018) 4.70 Madurai Railway Station 4.48 (June 2018) Total Sanction Cost 37.89 Total Central Assistance 390.74 ******ANNEXURE-II STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*113 ANSWERED ON 27.07.2026 REGARDING PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN TAMIL NADU RAISED BY SHRI SELVAM G. AND DR. RANI SRIKUMAR List of funds sanctioned for fairs & festivals in the State of Tamil Nadu: State Year Name of the Fair/Festival Sanction Amount (In Lakhs) Tamil 2015-16 Indian Dance Festival at 8.00 Nadu Mamallapuram, Tamilnadu 2016-17 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2017-18 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2018-19 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2019-20 Indian Dance Festival 25.00 Kumari Festival 10.00 Tourism Cultural Festival 15.00 2021-22 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2022-23 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2023-24 India Dance Festival at 25.00 Mamallapuram 2024-25 Indian Dance Festival- 50.00 Mamallapuram Margazhi Music Festival 10.00 Pongal Festival 20.00 2025-26 Indian Dance Festival- 25.00 Mamallapuram *******