Ministry of Culture Museum Grant Scheme Overview
The Ministry of Culture operates the Museum Grant Scheme under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative, providing financial assistance for setting up new museums, developing existing museums, digitizing museum collections, establishing virtual museums, and training museum professionals. The scheme supports museums managed by Central/State Governments, Societies, Autonomous bodies, Public Sector Undertakings, local bodies, Academic Institutions, and Trusts registered under the Societies Act at regional, state, and district levels across India.
Eligibility Criteria and Museum Classification
Museums are classified into three categories for support under the scheme. Category I includes Central or State Government owned museums in state capitals requiring high repute, significant artifact collections, and annual footfall of 1 lakh visitors in the preceding two years. Category II comprises Central or State Government owned museums including those of Public Sector Undertakings. Category III covers all other museums including those of Societies, Autonomous bodies, local bodies, Public Sector Undertakings, Academic Institutions and Trusts, which must have existed for at least three years, possess substantial historical/cultural collections, and maintain ownership of accessible land.
Funding Pattern and Financial Assistance
The scheme provides component-wise funding with different maximum amounts: For Component A (Setting up/Development), Category I museums receive up to ₹15 crore, Category II receives ₹10 crore for new museums and ₹8 crore for development, while Category III receives ₹5 crore for new museums and ₹4 crore for development. Component B provides ₹50 lakh for Category I government-owned state/capital level museums and ₹25 lakh for all other museums. Component C offers ₹50 lakh for all Central and State Government museums and ₹25 lakh for all other museums.
Project Scope and Coverage
The scheme supports museums containing antiquities, numismatics, paintings, ethnological collections, folk art, art & crafts, textiles, stamps, online virtual museums, theme-based museums, virtual experiential museums, and projects of national importance. The Ministry of Tourism additionally promotes Indian museums internationally through travel events, exhibitions, fairs, festivals, influencer programs, and digital outreach activities.
Proposal Statistics and Grant Disbursements
Annexure-I details 35 proposals received in 2021 from states including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Subsequent years show additional proposals from various states.
Annexure-II shows specific grant disbursements including ₹58.467 lakh to Science City of Andhra Pradesh (2022-23), ₹129.132 lakh to the same institution (2025-26), ₹140.043 lakh to Archaeology and Museum, Govt of Andhra Pradesh (2022-23), ₹59.956 lakh to the same (2025-26), and ₹400 lakh to Dept of Archaeology and Museums, Govt of Andhra Pradesh (2025-26). Other significant disbursements include ₹219.698 lakh to Dept of Cultural Affairs, Govt of Arunachal Pradesh (2024-25), ₹338.301 lakh to the same (2025-26), and ₹333.87 lakh to Dept of Language and Culture, Govt of Himachal Pradesh (2025-26).
Madhya Pradesh received ₹750 lakh for museum modernization (2025-26), ₹660 lakh for Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalaya museum development (2024-25), and ₹500 lakh for Museum of Music establishment (2025-26). Maharashtra received ₹197.807 lakh to Symbiosis Society's for Asian Cultural Museum development (2022-23) with additional installments of ₹89 lakh in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Digitalization Support
The scheme also supports digitization projects, with examples including ₹12.50 lakh to Basava Samithi, Karnataka in both 2022-23 and 2025-26 for digitization of museum collections and dissemination of Vachana literature.
This information was presented by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on July 27, 2026.