AGRA: The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday tabled its first Supplementary Budget and proposed allocation of Rs 163 crore for tourism industry, including Rs 20 crore for Mughal Museum , coming up near Taj Mahal in Agra , and Rs 6 crore for Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya .

In the Supplementary Budget, a fund of Rs 6 crore has also been proposed for organising Dipotsav (carnival of lights) during the Diwali festival in the temple town of Ayodhya and Rs 105 crore for development of tourist infrastructure and facilities in various places, including Rs 10 crore each for Vindhyavasini in Mirzapur and Naimisharanya in Sitapur.

The work on Agra's Mughal Museum had started in June 2016 during Akhilesh Yadav 's government and was supposed to be completed in December 2017.

But due to non-availability of funds and delay in shifting of state electricity department's store room, which was established on a 1.25-acre land of the total approved land of 5.9 acre for the project, it was delayed.

Confirming this, Amit Srivastava, deputy director of tourism department in Agra, said that initially Rs 90 crore was released from the total estimated project cost of Rs 141 crore.

He said that many procedural delays happened, "which aren't uncommon with such big projects".

The museum is slated to come up near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal and would be located some 1,300 metres away from the 17th century monument. It would be used to educate the tourists about the Mughal era, their weaponry, costumes, culture and many other things, an official said.

According to Noida-based Design Studio Archohm, which is looking after the museum's architecture, the project is almost 75% complete. Archohm is collaborating with David Chipperfield Architects' Berlin office to design the museum, where tourists will "see the creatively crafted space showcasing the history and Mughal architectural thoughts in the context of visual material culture - art, architecture, design and craft", Archohm officials said.

