Travel Budget 2020 Highlights and Announcements

The world’s largest democracy and the world’s fifth-largest economy, India, has recently announced its budget for the financial Year 2020-2021. The entire budget allocation for this year was Rs. 30,42230 Crore. 

Budget 2020 is certainly under critical lenses of the experts from various sectors such as education, health, industry, research, defense, but one sector that is extremely content and overwhelmed by the allocation is the Travel and Tourism industry.

In the Annual Financial Statement 2020 (Budget) the tourism sector has been allotted Rs.2500 Crore for its development and various new initiatives. This year the budget has been increased by Rs. 1,122 Crores in comparison to the budget allocated in FY 2019-2020 which was Rs. 1,378 Crore. 

Last year, India also improved its rank in the Travel & Tourism Competitive Index of World Economic Forum from 65 to 34 and the latest increase in budget will help in promoting and positioning India among top countries to travel to.

Here are a few major highlights of the Travel Budget 2020 for the Travel and Tourism sector at a glance

1. The overall allocation for Travel and Tourism is Rs.2500 Crore for FY 2020-2021
2. The Finance Minister has also announced the proposal for establishing the Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation under the Ministry of Culture
3. Rs. 3,150 Crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Culture
4. The proposal of setting up a Tribal Museum in Ranchi, Jharkhand was also announced in the budget
5. A Maritime Museum to be set up in Lothal, Gujarat
6. Development work at five archaeological sites such as Rakhigarhi in Harayana, Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu, Sivasagar in Assam, Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, and Dholavira in Gujarat.

Rakhigarhi, Haryana. Rakhigarhi is a village located in Hisar district. The village is a popular ancient site that is known for its roots being associated with Indus valley civilization. The village attracts history buffs and tourists from across the globe.

Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu. This is another ancient site that is home to the relics belonging to the period of 905 BC and 696 BC.

Sivasagar, Assam. Sivasagar city is home to a pious lake whereas the city is known to be the capital of the most celebrated Ahom Empire which ruled the region for almost 6 centuries.

Dholavira, Gujarat. An archaeological site situated in the Kutch district in Gujarat. The government is planning to set up a museum here for tourists.

Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh. Situated in Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, Hastinapur finds its mention in Hindu mythological texts as the capital of the Kuru kingdom.     

Roadway Budget Highlights

1. Rs.1.70 Lakh Crore has been allocated to transport infrastructure for the construction of highways
2. The most talked-about project of Budget 2020 was the 1250km long Delhi Mumbai Highway that will reduce the journey between the two states to 12 hours. The project is expected to be completed by 2023

Railway Budget Highlights

1. Many more Tejas Express trains will be launched this year to the iconic destinations in India
2. Wifi facility will be launched at 550 railway stations
3. The electrification of 27,000 km of railway track has also been proposed
4. A high-speed train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be boosted this financial year
5. Proposal for setting up solar power plants along rail tracks
6. Renovation of 4 stations and the proposal of running 1,150 trains under the Public-Private-Partnership model is another major highlight

Aviation Sector Budget Highlights

1. 100 new airports to be developed under the UDAN scheme by 2024
2. Increase aircraft fleet from current 600 to 1200
3. A Travel Initiative to Boost Tourism

The tourism ministry has planned to fund the expenses of tourists who will travel to at least 15 destinations under the Dekho Apna Desh program in India in a year and will upload original and creative pictures of the destination on their portal. Travelers who will travel to iconic destinations of India and will upload most creative pictures will be honoured by certificates.

According to industry experts, the travel budget 2020 has been very promising and holds great prospects for growth and expansion on all fronts. All the new initiatives announced in the budget will attract domestic and foreign travelers to all these exotic and unexplored sites in India.