Heritage Infrastructure projects worth Rs 350 crore approved

Minister of Urban Development, M Venkaiah Naidu recently inaugurated a two-day conference on Heritage Cities in Delhi. The conference was jointly organised by Ministry of Urban Development and Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN).

In his inaugural address, Naidu said that India is blessed with tangible and intangible heritage assets, which includes 32 World Heritage Sites, both cultural and natural, recognised by UNESCO. He said that India ranks 5th in the world and 2nd in Asia, in terms of number of World Heritage Sites. Naidu pointed out that the heritage management has often been carried out in isolation, with no linkages to the urban planning process.

The Minister further said that HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) scheme, which was launched by the government in 2014 for heritage/ tourism oriented urban development, is 100% centrally sponsored with an outlay of Rs 500 crores and in the pilot phase, 12 cities have been selected. He highlighted that there is a need for convergence of schemes like Smart City, AMRUT and other state Government schemes to reinforce the cultural and Heritage India. So far, projects worth about Rs 350 crore have been approved for implementation.

Naidu said that France had expressed interest to intervene on the subject of heritage and urban renewal heritage around waterfronts and accordingly two cities, namely Puri and Varanasi, have identified the projects relating to waterfront development.

Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Dr M Ramachandran, Chairman, IHCN and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Source : Urbannewsdigest