Tourism minister K J Alphons has said that Govardhan Teerth of Mathura needs to be made into a world class destination and the Govardhan Maharaj Utsav shall be organised in October every year. The minister has also announced INR 50 crore for the development of Govardhan Parikrama. Alphons added that it has also been decided, in-principle, to include tourism amenities at Kusum Sarovar, Mansi Gate, Chandra Sarovar for development of facilities for pilgrimage in the project. In addition, provision for installation of CCTV, PA system, Wi-Fi system signages will also be included. The Uttar Pradesh State Government will be submitting a detailed project report in this regard.
Earlier, the UP State Government had submitted a proposal for development of infrastructure facilities at Govardhan Teerth in Mathura. Till date, projects worth INR 118.23 crore have already been approved by the ministry of tourism under National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme during the last four years, which are under various stages of implementation in Mathura and Varanasi in the state.
The total number of sites identified for development under the scheme at present are 24. They are Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Dwarka and Somnath (Gujarat), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Deogarh (Jharkhand), Guruvayoor (Kerala), Maa Chintpurni, Una (Himachal Pradesh, Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra) Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi, and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath and Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Belur (West Bengal). Till date total 24 projects have been approved with estimated expenditure of INR 727.16 crore and a total amount of INR 267.44 crore has been released for these projects.