Archive · 8 Jan 2026
Private Sector to Join Monument Conservation in India
The Indian government is allowing private companies to help take care of old and important buildings, called monuments.
Right now, only the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) does this job.
Soon, private companies can also help by choosing and paying for conservation work.
The government is making a list of 250 monuments that need care, and companies can pick which ones they want to help with.
This is to make the work go faster and involve more people.
The money given by companies will be used to hire experts to fix and protect these buildings.
The ASI will still make sure everything is done correctly.
Other countries like the UK and the US also let private companies help with taking care of old buildings.
The conservation of monuments in India will soon be open to private sector involvement.
More than 20 private agencies have applied to the Ministry of Culture's Request for Proposal (RFP).
Private donors will be able to directly engage conservation agencies after the RFP process is completed.
The ASI will set the framework and monitor the work done by private agencies.
The government has initially listed 250 monuments that require conservation work.
- Who
- The Ministry of Culture and private agencies
- What
- Opening up monument conservation to private sector
- When
- In less than two weeks (after January 12)
- Where
- Across India
- Why
- To build capacity in the heritage sector and expedite conservation work
- Monuments to be Conserved
- 3,700 protected monuments
- National Culture Fund (NCF) Corpus
- Rs 20 crore
- Total Donations to NCF
- Rs 140 crore
- Completed Conservation Projects
- 70
- Ongoing Conservation Projects
- 20
- RFP Closing Date
- January 12
- Expected Empanelment Time
- 1 week after RFP closes
- Initial List of Monuments for Conservation
- 250