INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi last month inaugurated one of the holiest Hindu temples and his government has been spending millions of dollars to develop many others, boosting tourism and his appeal among the majority community ahead of elections.
Apart from a $6 billion (£4.7bn) makeover of the northern city of Ayodhya, where Modi opened the first phase of a Ram temple, the federal government has spent nearly $120 million (£94.25m) to develop dozens of Hindu pilgrimage sites in the past decade, according to government data, and more funding is planned.
The Ram temple, built on the site of the Mughal-era Babri mosque that was razed by a Hindu mob in 1992 and where Hindus believe the deity Ram was born, is estimated to draw up to 100 million tourists a year, according to Jefferies analysts.
In comparison, about nine million people visit Vatican City in a year and about 20 million Mecca.
“The creation of a new religious tourist centre (Ayodhya) with improved connectivity…
