- Union Minister of Ports and Shipping announced initiatives to preserve India’s lighthouses as part of the country’s marine heritage and transform them into tourist hubs, benefiting coastal communities.
- This announcement was made during the second Indian Lighthouse Festival at Puri.
- Lighthouse tourism has seen a 400% rise in footfall since 2014.
- A national framework is being developed to preserve lighthouses as symbols of India’s maritime history.
- The Ministry has invested ₹60 crore to develop 75 iconic lighthouses across nine coastal states and one union territory with modern amenities like museums and parks, creating both direct and indirect employment.
- Two new lighthouses will be established on Odisha’s coastline, one at Chaumuck at Narayanpur in Balasore district and another at Dhamra in Bhadrak district.
- The Kalwan Reef Lighthouse was inaugurated in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Dig Deeper: Read about the navigational relevance of the Lighthouse in the current context.
