Government Heritage and Tourism Investment Overview
The Indian government has undertaken significant investment in cultural heritage preservation and tourism infrastructure development through multiple schemes with substantial funding allocations. The Adopt a Heritage 2.0 scheme, launched in September 2023, has resulted in 30 Memorandums of Understanding signed for developing visitor amenities at protected monuments, recording 13.59 million visitors during FY 2024–25.
Major Infrastructure Schemes and Funding
The Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme has sanctioned 54 projects across 28 States and Union Territories with a total project cost of ₹1,726.74 crore, of which 32 projects were completed as of December 2025. The Swadesh Darshan scheme has invested ₹5,290.33 crore across 76 projects, with 75 projects completed as of March 2026, covering 15 thematic tourist circuits including Buddhist, Coastal, Desert, Eco, Heritage, Himalayan, Krishna, North-East, Ramayana, Rural, Spiritual, Tirthankar, Tribal, Wildlife, and Sufi circuits. Under Swadesh Darshan 2.0, 53 additional projects have been sanctioned with ₹2,208.31 crore investment, adopting a destination-centric approach. The Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme, introduced in March 2024, has sanctioned 38 projects with ₹697.94 crore investment focused on sustainable tourism development.
Archaeological Conservation Efforts
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) safeguards 3,686 centrally protected monuments through 38 Circles across the country, with ₹374 crore allocated for conservation and maintenance of protected monuments in FY 2024–25. Over the last five years, ASI has issued 121 permissions for archaeological projects. The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities has documented 1.84 lakh monuments and 17.20 lakh antiquities across India as of March 2026.
Heritage City Development
The Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) covered 12 heritage cities across India, concluding its mission period on 31 March 2019. The scheme achieved improved cleanliness, tourism, and community development in cities including Ajmer, Amaravati, Badami, Amritsar, Gaya, Varanasi, Warangal, Puri, Kancheepuram, Mathura, and Velankanni, with specific outcomes including heritage revitalization, tourism infrastructure enhancement, safety improvements, and environmental sustainability.
Cultural Repatriation Achievements
India has intensified efforts to repatriate cultural artifacts, retrieving 615 antiquities during the last five years up to 30 June 2026. Major repatriations include the Piprahwa Relics of Lord Buddha returned in 2025 after 127 years, Goddess Annapurna idol repatriated from Canada in 2021 after 108 years, and Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana bronze idols returned from the UK in 2020. Sacred objects have also been returned from Australia, USA, UK, Germany, Singapore, and Canada. Of the retrieved antiquities, 11 have been handed over to concerned organizations, 09 objects loaned to Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts for display at the New Parliament Building, 01 object to the National Museum, and 14 objects to the Indian Institute of Heritage.
International Cultural Expositions
Global expositions of sacred Buddha relics have strengthened cultural ties, with Vietnam attracting over 15 million devotees in 2025, Kalmykia Russia welcoming over 90,000 visitors in 2025, Bhutan featuring an exposition during the Global Peace Prayer Festival in 2025, and Sri Lanka hosting an exposition at the Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo in 2026. Domestic exhibitions were organized in New Delhi and Ladakh in 2026 showcasing the reunited Piprahwa relics.
Museum and Cultural Infrastructure Development
The Museum Grant Scheme has provided ₹184.39 crore in financial assistance during the last five financial years, with ₹101.19 crore utilized for establishing new museums and strengthening existing museums at regional, state, and district levels. Initiatives include modernization, digitization of museum collections, capacity building, development of virtual museums, theme-based museums, and Virtual Experiential Museums (VEMs).
India's first Archaeological Experiential Museum in Vadnagar, Gujarat was built at a project cost of ₹298 crore spread over 12,500 square meters, displaying over 5,000 artefacts including food grains, DNA samples, and skeletal remains. The museum features a 4,000 sq. m. open excavation site showcasing archaeological remains at 16–18 metres depth and an experiential walkway for visitors.
Digital Preservation Initiatives
The Gyan Bharatam Mission launched in 2025 focuses on preserving, digitizing, and promoting access to India's manuscript heritage. The National Manuscript Survey launched in March 2026 has reported more than 1.19 crore manuscripts, with over 8 lakh manuscripts digitized nationwide and more than 4.40 lakh manuscripts available on the Gyan Bharatam portal for public access. The mission has been approved with an outlay of ₹482.85 crore for 2024–31 to scale digitization and access.
Museum collections digitization using JATAN software has resulted in 3,75,707 artefacts out of 4,88,983 artefacts being digitized and made available online through the Museums of India portal as of July 15, 2026, covering collections from 8 National Level Museums, 2 ASI Site Museums, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum, Pune.
Technology Integration in Heritage Conservation
Modern technologies including LiDAR scanning, GIS-based mapping, and drone surveys are being used for heritage documentation and conservation. Artificial Intelligence is being leveraged for digitization, documentation, and accessibility of cultural assets. Specific AI initiatives include BHASHINI supporting 22 languages (voice) and 36 languages (text) with 350+ AI models and over 4 billion+ language transactions, BharatGen developing AI models for 22 Scheduled Languages, and Adi-Vaani supporting tribal languages including Santali, Bhili, Mundari, and Gondi through digital preservation and translation.
Vedic and Cinematic Heritage Preservation
The Vedic Heritage Portal launched in March 2023 preserves, documents, and provides digital access to India's Vedic knowledge traditions including Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda, with more than 500 hours of audio-visual recordings. The tradition of Vedic Chanting is recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Rigveda manuscripts are included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
The National Film Heritage Mission launched in 2015 has digitized 1,469 titles equaling 4.3 lakh minutes of films as of December 2025. The National Museum of Indian Cinema inaugurated in 2019 with a project cost of ₹140.61 crore showcases 100+ years of Indian cinema and attracted 17,000+ visitors in May 2026.
Global Recognition
India has expanded its global heritage recognition to 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and hosted the 46th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Session in New Delhi in 2024.