 bill no 9 of 2007 the tourism promotion corporation of india bill, 2007 byshri ks rao, mp a billto provide for establishment of a tourism promotion corporation of india to promote and develop tourism in the country and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the tourism promotion corporation of india act, 2007(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i)  "appropriate government" means a state government or the central government, as the case may be;5(ii) "director-general" means the director-general of tourism promotion corporation of india established under section 3;(iii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and (iv) "tourist centre" means a centre declared as a tourist centre by the appropriate government103 (1) the central government shall establish a corporation to be known as tourism promotion corporation of india with its headquarters at new delhitourism promotion corporation of india(2) the corporation shall have its office in the capital city of each state and union territory:provided that the corporation may set up its offices at any tourist centre or other places with the prior approval of the central government154 (1) the corporation shall be headed by a director-generalcorporation to be headed by director- general(2) each office of the corporation shall be headed by a director and shall consist of such number of officers and other staff as may be required for its efficient functioning5 the corporation shall perform the following functions:—functions of the corporation20(i) formulation of a tourism policy in consultation with the state governments;(ii) giving wide publicity to its policies and programmes through all meansof communication including print and electronic media;(iii) advising central government with regard to financial assistance to beprovided to state governments for creating infrastructure at all tourist centres;25(iv) providing better connectivity to all places of tourist importance byway of creation of adequate infrastructure;(v) setting up tourist facilitation centres at all airports and railway stationswith a view to facilitate travelling, boarding and lodging for the tourists including reservation in air services, trains, buses, hotels and motels;30(vi) conducting organized tours to different tourist centres; (vii) setting up hotels, restaurants and motels at all tourist centres with aview to catering to the needs of different categories of tourists;(viii) preparing a list of paying-guest accommodation available at places havinginadequate hotel or motel accommodation;35(ix) make arrangements for provision of adequate paying-guest accommodationfor tourists at tourist centres having no hotels run by the corporation;40(x) organizing cultural functions in cooperation with the appropriategovernment and other organisations concerned at various tourist places at regular intervals with a view to creating awareness among the general public and foreign tourists about the indian culture and tradition;(xi) organizing cultural functions in various countries in co-ordination withindian embassies/high commissions in those countries with a view to depicting indian culture and tradition;(xii) sending experts in the fields of art, music and such other activities as it may deem fit, to various countries for participating in programmes aimed at depicting indian culture;5(xiii) training tourist guides and tour operators regarding historicalbackground of tourist centres and courtesy to be extended to tourists, especially foreign tourists;(xiv) setting up health resorts based on indian system of medicine at varioustourist places in consultation with the appropriate government;10(xv) making arrangements for security of foreign tourists at various touristcentres in consultation with the appropriate government; and(xvi) coordinating with the archaeological survey of india with a view to preserving and promoting monuments declared as of national importance6  the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this actpower to make rules statement of objects and reasonsindia is a large country having vast tourist potential however, it has not been exploited fully to the advantage of the country every year, lakhs of tourists visit our country from all over the worldit is a known fact that the foreign tourists face hardship and suffer unpleasant experiences while they travel in our country they get cheated by middlemen, touts and others for arranging reservations for journey, hotels, etc many of them carry a bad impression about our country on their return as a result, prospective tourists are discouraged from visiting our country consequently there is a heavy loss of foreign exchange to the countryindia is a vast country having different cultures and traditions and various languagespeople of one region are not aware of the culture and tradition of people belonging to the other regions as such they face a lot of difficulties while visiting important tourist places moreover, the tourist centres in many places require adequate facilities and the states are not in a position to spend the money security to foreign tourists also has to be taken into consideration therefore, it is proposed to set up a tourism promotion corporation of india with a view to promote tourism in the country and attract foreign tourists in large numbers it is also proposed to provide that the corporation shall function with a professional approach in order to promote tourismhence this billnew delhi;ks raodecember 18, 2006 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides that the central government shall set up a corporation to be known as tourist promotion corporation of india with its headquarters at new delhi and an office in each state and union territory clause 4 provides that the corporation shall consist of a director-general, number of directors and officers clause 5 provides that the corporation shall perform various functions to augment infrastructural and other facilities for tourists in all tourist placesthe bill, therefore, if enacted, is likely to involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve an annual recurring expenditure of rupees one thousand crore from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of rupees five thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 6 of the bill empowers the central government to frame rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok sabha———— a billto provide for establishment of a tourism promotion corporation of india to promote and develop tourism in the country and for matters connected therewith————(shri ks rao, mp)mgip(mrnd)46ls(s5)—08-02-2007