Budget: Art and culture get big boost, Delhi to get its own Bhavan

Delhi's 2025-26 budget boosts tourism funding to ₹412 crore, with plans for modern toilets, infrastructure, and a new Delhi House to enhance visitor experience.

Under the 2025-26 budget, the Delhi government has more than tripled the allocation for the tourism sector to ₹412 crore with a provision of ₹173 crore for “art, culture, and language”. This is up from the previous allocation of ₹121 crore.

CM Rekha Gupta said ₹50 crore have been allocated to implement the tourism master plan and tourism policy. (Representative photo)

Presenting the Delhi Budget in the Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said, “We want that any person coming to Delhi from outside should not just see the monuments, but take away the experience of a clean, vibrant, and welcoming city.”

In that regard, around 1,000 “modern” toilet blocks will be built in the coming years, welcome gates will be installed at 13 chief entry points, and all the roundabouts and intersections will be beautified, she said. A provision of ₹300 crore has been made for all these infrastructure projects.

The CM highlighted that every state has its own Bhavan in Delhi, but the city does not have one. “To address this shortcoming, we propose to construct a ’Delhi House’ this year, with a provision of ₹10 crore,” said Gupta.

She added that ₹50 crore have been allocated this year to implement the tourism master plan and tourism policy as well as for digital content development, under the “Branding Delhi” scheme. The CM added that a new Delhi Film Policy is being introduced for which ₹5 crore has been allocated.

The Delhi government is also formulating an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) policy. “Our youth today are creators, storytellers, and brand ambassadors of Delhi. This initiative will provide opportunities to our youth in new areas such as the creative economy, the gaming industry, and digital storytelling, and will play a vital role in establishing Delhi as a global creative and gaming hub.”

Among other proposals, the Delhi Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology will be redeveloped while the town hall will be developed as a “global heritage centre” as part of the Union government’s “One State–One Global Destination” scheme.