Union Budget 2026 has tints of adventure in it as it not only introduced the standard segments of the economy like manufacturing, personal finance and markets but also incorporated proposals regarding trekking trails, the feline family and turtles.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recognised that the tourism sector has the potential to play a large role in employment generation, forex earnings and expanding the local economy.
Therefore, in a bid to enhance India's tourist appeal, the FM announced that under budget 2026, development of ecologically sustainable mountain trails, turtle trails and bird watching trails will be done.
The mountain trails will be built in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir in the north; Araku Valley in the Eastern Ghats and Podhigai Malai in the Western Ghats. While turtle trails will be created along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala; and bird watching trails will be built along the Pulicat lake in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Further, in order to enhance last-mile and remote connectivity, and promote tourism, the FM proposed to give incentives to indigenise manufacturing of seaplanes. "A Seaplane VGF Scheme will also be introduced to provide support for operations," she said.
Besides this, other key tourism-specific projects such as a National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid will be established to digitally document all places of significance - cultural, spiritual and heritage. This initiative will also create a new ecosystem of jobs for local researchers, historians, content creators and technology partners.
To create a bridge between academia, government and industry, the FM proposed upgrading the existing National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology and turning it into the National Institute of Hospitality.
She also proposed a pilot scheme for upskilling 10,000 guides in 20 iconic tourist sites through a standardised, high-quality 12-week training course in hybrid mode. This, Sitharaman said, will be done in collaboration with an Indian Institute of Management.
Lastly, in her ninth budget presentation, she highlighted that this year, India is hosting the first-ever Global Big Cat Summit, where heads of governments and ministers from 95 range countries will deliberate on collective strategies for conservation. This comes after the International Big Cat Alliance was formed by the country in 2024.
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