Post news network
Bhubaneswar: The Centre has decided not to fund the light-and-sound projects in the state.
The Narendra Modi government at the Centre had last year in-principle approved the light-and-sound project at Khandagiri-Udayagiri, Dhauli and Konark and also agreed to provide funds for them, tourism and culture minister Ashok Chandra Panda said.
The Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) had then signed an MoU with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to hold the light-and-sound shows at the three heritage sites.
However, this year the Centre has stated that it would not provide funds for the projects, Panda said.
“I have urged Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma to provide fund for at least the ongoing projects,” Panda said. The state government now plans to complete the projects with its own resources, he said.
The estimated cost of the light-and-sound project at Khandagiri-Udayagiri, Dhauli and Konark is Rs 6.15 crore, Rs 6.06 crore and Rs 6.56 crore, respectively. Of this, the Centre had agreed to provide Rs 5 crore for each project, with the remaining money to be provided by the state government, an official of the tourism department said. However, so far, the Centre has released only Rs 1 crore for each project. “We have already released our share of the funds,” the official said.
There are four components of the project — art direction, technology, voice over and multilingual scripts.
