Ayodhya Ram Mandir could attract more tourists than Mecca, Vatican City combined: Report

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday presided over the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Ahead of the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony, it is estimated that over $10 billion ( ₹85,000 crore approx.) were spent to revamp and redevelop the city of Ayodhya, with more funding planned, reported PTI.

With nearly $200 billion in revenue, tourism contributes about 7% of India’s economy, which is below most large emerging and developed economies by up to 5 percentage points. A new report suggests that this massive revamping of Ayodhya can lead to over ₹25,000 crore tax revenue generation by the Uttar Pradesh government.

According to brokerage firm Jefferies, the total makeover of Ayodhya, which includes new airport, revamped railway station, township, improved road connectivity etc, has a cost of around ₹85,000 crore, reported PTI.

The report by Jefferies highlighted that this massive Ayodhya makeover can attract over 50 million tourists to the city in a year. Golden Temple in Amritsar gets an estimated 30-35 million footfalls a year while the Tirupati temple sees 25-30 million visits. Globally, Vatican city gets around 9 million tourists every year and Mecca in Saudi Arabia around 20 million, the report says.

Uttar Pradesh may gain ₹4 lakh crore through Ram Mandir

In an effort to aid tourism in Ayodhya, phase 1 of the airport in the city is now operational, with the operational strength of 1 million passengers. This will soon by expanded to 6 million by 2025. Further, Railway has also doubled its capacity to 60,000 passengers per day.

At present Ayodhya has around 17 hotels with 590 rooms. 73 new hotels are in the pipeline, of which 40 are already under construction. While Indian Hotels, Marriott and Wyndham have already signed deals for hotels, ITC is exploring opportunities in Ayodhya. Oyo plans to add 1,000 hotel rooms in Ayodhya.

Keeping in mind the tourism projections made by multiple agencies for Ayodhya and Uttar Pradesh in the coming years, it is likely that total expenditure by tourists in Uttar Pradesh could surpass the ₹4 lakh crore mark by the end of the year, reported Economic Times quoting an SBI report.

It is expected that Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir can soon transform into a global tourism spot, similar to Mecca and Vatican, in the coming years, massively contributing to the tax revenue generated by Uttar Pradesh.