New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The government on Thursday said it has sanctioned 40 projects for Rs 3,295.76 crore in the country under the ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment’ (SASCI) initiative to boost the tourism sector.

During financial year 2024-25, the Ministry of Tourism issued operational guidelines for the SASCI initiative, with the objective to comprehensively develop iconic tourist centres in the country, branding and marketing them at global scale.

Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that projects under the scheme were identified based on the project proposals submitted by the concerned state governments, its examination on the prescribed parameters to access destination potential and preparedness — such as connectivity to the site, tourism ecosystem, carrying capacity, sustainability measures, sustainable operation and management, project impact and value created, tourism marketing plans etc. and as per the institutional framework detailed in the scheme guidelines.

The scheme guidelines also encourage the state governments to undertake consultations with stakeholders and local community representatives while preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).

These sanctioned projects are implemented and managed by the concerned state government. However, Ministry of Tourism periodically reviews the progress of the projects sanctioned under SASCI scheme and encourages the state governments to expedite progress of projects in a time-bound manner.

The Ministry of Tourism has also revamped the Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable tourism destinations.

Accordingly, a total of 53 projects for Rs 2,208.27 crore are sanctioned under SD2.0 scheme and 36 projects for Rs 648.11 Crore are sanctioned under CBDD initiative.

Presently, e-visa facility under nine sub-categories is available to nationals of 171 countries for entry through 31 designated international airports and 6 major seaports and the processing of e-visa is totally on the online platform, said Shekhawat.

–IANS

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