Six lakh foreign tourists visted Taj Mahal last year: Govt

New Delhi, July 27 (UNI) The government today told the Lok Sabha that it had no plan to develop and notify Agra as a ''heritage city'' even though the number of foreign tourists to Taj Mahal was on the rise with about six lakh visitors last year.

In a written reply, Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said, ''The number of foreign tourists visiting Taj Mahal was increasing as about six lakh visitors visited this one of the seven wonders of the world last year. However, the Centre has no plans to develop and notify Agra as a heritage city.

Only 2.5 lakh foreigners visited the Taj Mahal in 2003.

Subsequently, the number went upto 3.64lakh and 5.93 lakh in 2004 and 2005 respectively, Ms Soni added.

On the other hand, Minister of State for Railways R Velu informed that revenue from luxury coaching service, ''Palace on Wheels'' had gone up to 15.17 crore in 2005-06 from 14.23 crore in 2004-05.

He said as the demand for the luxury coaches was on the rise, the Railways had signed a MoU with Karnakata State Tourism Development Corporation to run a luxury tourist train to ply on the Karnataka sector.

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