India’s Tourism Ministry Already Gets Limited Funding, And Even That Remains Unused
Photo Credit: Tourists in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. Pexels / Ajay Donga
Skift Take
Despite the emphasis that the Indian Prime Minister places on the tourism sector, the underutilization of funds raises some very pertinent questions about the tourism focus for the government.
India's tourism ministry operates on a chronically underfunded budget and even the limited resources it receives are routinely left unspent. In the 2025–26 fiscal year, the ministry was allocated only INR 25.4 billion ($298 million).
A recent Parliamentary standing committee report drew attention to the recurring failure to fully utilize funds under key initiatives, including the flagship Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes.
In fact, in 2023–24, only 33.4% of the tourism budget was utilized, the following year even that dropped to a mere 16%. The report said the ministry attributed this underperformance to administrative bottlenecks, procedural delays, and coordination challenges with implementing agencies. However, the committee found these explanations “inadequate and reflective of entrenched operational weaknesses."
Mugdha Sinha, the then director general of tourism for
