The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned rural tourism projects at 185 sites to various States/Union Territory Administrations upto 31st March 2012. For the year 2012-13, rural tourism projects at 13 sites were identified for development, based on prioritisation meetings held by the Ministry of Tourism with State Governments/UT Administrations.
The MoT is implementing the Rural Tourism Scheme with the main objective of showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage in villages which have core competence in art and craft, handloom, textiles, natural environment etc. Under this scheme, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) upto Rs.50 lakhs for infrastructure development and upto Rs.20 lakhs for capacity building is provided to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for each identified site. CFA is provided to State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations on the basis of proposals received from them and subject to adherence to scheme guidelines, availability of funds and inter-se priority. Improvement of roads within the Panchayat limit is one of the components of the Rural Tourism Scheme for which CFA is provided to the State Governments/UT Administrations.
