# India cuts heritage spending as foreign tourist arrivals fall 9% 2026-08-13T13:23:12+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's spending on conservation of centrally protected monuments has declined from a peak of Rs 444 crore in FY24, data tabled in Parliament by culture and tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shows. Funding for iconic sites such as Agra, Aurangabad, and Hampi each fell by a third or more in the next two years. The cuts come as foreign tourist arrivals dropped 9.4% year-on-year to 9.02 million in 2025, still well below the pre-pandemic level of 11 million in 2019. ## Coverage - livemint.com Tags: ASI, budget, foreign tourist arrivals, heritage conservation, tourism Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-cuts-heritage-spending-as-foreign-tourist-arrivals-fall-9/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-cuts-heritage-spending-as-foreign-tourist-arrivals-fall-9/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.