Lucknow: Newly-elected Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who made his maiden visit to Gorakhpur on Saturday as the state CM, announced setting up of Kailash Mansarovar Bhavan at either Lucknow, Ghaziabad or Noida.

The Chief Minister also announced doubling of financial grant given to pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

Presiding over a meeting in the CM secretariat, Yogi said that the financial grant would encourage pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.

The previous Akhilesh Yadav-government too had doubled that the grant given to pilgrims of Mansarovar from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000. The grant had to be given to those who produce a domicile certificate or a copy of the passport, certifying that they belong to UP.

An average cost of yatra for a person is estimated to range at around Rs 2.5 lakh. As most pilgrims are unable to afford the amount, the government had announced a subsidy programme for devotees from Uttar Pradesh who are selected by the central government.

"Those who want to visit Kailash Mansarovar, if they are healthy we will grant them Rs 1 lakh. We will construct a Kailash Mansarovar Bhavan at one of the places in Lucknow, Ghaziabad or Noida," the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was quoted as saying.