Hyderabad: Union culture and tourism minister G. Kishan Reddy said the Centre was interested in developing historical monuments and forts across India. He said Golconda fort would be developed by GMR Group which would sign an agreement in the days to come.
Addressing the media at the BJP state office at Nampally in Hyderabad on Tuesday, the minister said the Red Fort was being developed by Dalmia Group using CSR funds and the same company was also doing development works of Gandikota fort in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh.
He said that only 40 structures were recognised by the Unesco, of the 3,700 historical monuments in the country. Only eight structures in Telangana were enlisted to be protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) whereas Andhra Pradesh has 68, and Karnataka 600.
Kishan Reddy said he had fixed a target for himself to develop historical places and tourist spots under the guidance of the Prime Minister. He disclosed his plans to conduct a meeting with national archaeology and state departments to develop the road connectivity and facilities for international tourists to visit the world heritage structure of Ramappa temple in Mulugu district.
The minister said as the tourism sector incurred huge losses due to Covid effect, he had held meetings with travel companies, hotel associations and guides associations to restart tourism. He said mostly India would reopen tourism from January next, and a majority of people would be vaccinated before December 2021.
Kishan Reddy alleged that the earlier governments neglected tourism, adding that the country wanted to encourage tourism for employment generation and investments also. He said the Modi government was connecting every place with national highways and providing railway connectivity.
He said that the Centre had a clear agenda to develop Buddhism and was going to conduct an international conference on Buddhism under the ministry of culture.
Reacting to state finance minister T. Harish Rao’s remarks against the Centre on the economy, Kishan Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had announced several times in the Assembly that the state had a surplus budget and asked why the government was taking loans and why there was a debt situation.
He advised leaders not to compare the states in economy and said Adilabad and Hyderabad did not have the same revenue.
