The tourism sector has the potential to play a significant role in employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and the expansion of the local economy, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said as she tabled the Union Budget 2026 in Parliament on February 1.
India has the potential and opportunity to offer world-class trekking and hiking experience. The Budget thus proposes to develop ecologically sustainable mountain trails in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir; as well as in Araku Valley in the Eastern Ghats and Podhigai Malai in the Western Ghats. Additional plans include turtle trails along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala; and birdwatching trails along the Pulikat lake in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The Budget also sets out plans to develop 15 archeological sites, including Lothal, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi, Adichanallur, Sarnath, Hastinapur and Leh Palace, into “vibrant, experiential” cultural destinations. Excavated landscapes would be opened to visitors through curated walkways.
With a focus on the Purvodaya states (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh) and the northeastern region, the government proposes an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor, with a node at Durgapur, the creation of five tourism destinations across the five Purvodaya states, and the deployment of 4,000 electric buses. In the northeast, the Budget proposes a scheme to develop Buddhist circuits in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. This would include the preservation of temples and monasteries, pilgrimage interpretation centres, improve connectivity and pilgrim amenities.
The government also plans to establish a National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid to catalogue sites of cultural, spiritual and heritage significance. This initiative, states the Budget announcement, will generate jobs for local researchers, historians, content creators and technology firms. A pilot scheme aims to train 10,000 guides across 20 iconic tourist sites through a 12-week hybrid course in collaboration with an Indian Institute of Management. Immersive storytelling skills and technologies will be introduced to help conservation labs, interpretation centres and guides.
The Budget also proposes upgrading the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology into a National Institute of Hospitality, intended to serve as a link between academia, industry and the state.
“The promotion of mountain trails risks further straining fragile ecosystems. Greater human presence and the infrastructure that accompanies it have already raised concerns, as seen in recent years during the Kinnaur Kailash yatra and the Shrikhand Mahadev pilgrimage in Himachal Pradesh,” says Rajneesh Sareen, director, Sustainable Building & Habitat Programme, at the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi. It all now depends on how the government plans to make the trails ecologically sustainable.
According to Suma Vishnudas of the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology in Wayanad, any large-scale human congregation in high-altitude mountain ranges must be avoided to avert extreme weather events and their aftereffects, facilitated jointly by climate change and human activities. Both the eastern and western Ghats are already under severe pressure from tourism. Even the survival needs of vulnerable people in fragile mountains remain unaddressed. Tourism must be regulated to the bare minimum in such areas even if they are of minimum impacts.
Evolutionary ecologist Kartik Shanker spoke to Down To Earth about the decision to start ‘turtle trails’ in states like Odisha and Kerala.
“Olive Ridley turtles are increasing everywhere. So, there is an opportunity there to engage people. Along both coasts, every state has non-profits that are engaged in turtle conservation. These organisations, like the Student Sea Conservation Turtle Network in Chennai, have been taking people on turtle walks since the 1980s. There is also public engagement in Rushikulya. If this decision makes the process more formalised and regulated and if there are benefits for local communities, then it is greatly beneficial.”
Shanker added that, “I think there is an opportunity to create tourism that provides livelihood opportunities to local communities and collaboration with local non-profits. And that is great. I would be strongly supportive of endeavours that create greater public awareness and engagement and also benefit local communities.”