Entry Tickets to Cultural Monuments
India to cut rate for Saarc, Bimstec tourists
Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
India has decided to cut the rate of entry tickets to cultural monuments and world heritage sites for tourists from Saarc and Bimstec countries and bring them down at par with Indian nationals.Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said this has been done to promote regional solidarity. Addressing a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to her ministry here on Tuesday, she said this decision should not be seen as a first step towards introducing uniform entry fee for all visitors, Indian and foreign. Soni said entry fee is not exorbitant for most foreign visitors and reducing the fee for all foreign visitors would lead to a major loss of revenue to the government. The fees in India are less than what is charged in many other countries, she pointed out. Foreign visitors are now required to pay US$ 2 for 101 'B' category monuments and US$ 5 for 15 'A' category monuments which are world heritage sites. The entry fees for Indians are Rs 5 for 'B' category and Rs 10 for 'A' category monuments. Saarc brings together Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Afghanistan besides India and BIMSTEC that comprises Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. The tourism ministry would spend Rs 933 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan on maintenance and restoration of cultural monuments.
| 
