The Sun Temple Konark and the Khajuraho temple complex will soon have better tourist facilities thanks to funds given by the public sector Indian Oil Corporation.
The Indian Oil Fundation, the oil giant's non-profit trust which is collaborating with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the National Culture Fund (NCF) to protect and preserve heritage monuments, will spend Rs 45 crore by the end of this year to augment the facilities at Konark. The earlier approved sum was Rs 35 crore. The board of trustees also approved a spend of Rs 32 crore (as against Rs 28 crore approved earlier) at Khajuraho by December 2018.
The decisions were taken at the recent meeting of the board of trustees, chaired by secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Senior officals of the ASI and IOC also attended the meeting.
IOF is already working on a Rs 10 crore project to build facilities at the Harappan site of Dholavira in Great Rann of Kachh, Gujarat and on a Rs 9.5 crore project at Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan.
The National Culture Fund, through which private and public entities can help protect and preserve heritage monumnets, was created in the 1990s.
