Varanasi gets Rs 20 crore tourism package

NEW DELHI: The tourism ministry has cleared projects worth Rs 20 crore for Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency. These include sound and light show, a Buddha theme park in Sarnath and conservation of two temples — Gurudham and Markandey Mahadev temple.

The ministry's central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC), headed by secretary Vinod Zutshi, met last week to approve the infrastructure projects. Varanasi is one of the cities that comes under the ministry's PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive) scheme.

Significantly, many of these projects had been hanging for several years but have picked up speed since Varanasi became the PM's constituency.

Among the projects that have been cleared are sound and light show at Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath. "The project has been sanctioned Rs 7 crore and will be executed in the next 12-18 months. The show will trace the history of Sarnath with the stupa as the backdrop,'' Zutshi said. Plans are also afoot to develop the Sarangnath pond at Sarnath. The ministry has been working towards promoting Buddhist tourism and this has been a special focus for Modi on his visits to China and Japan in the last few months.