New barcoded tickets for entry to Taj Mahal to cost Rs 50: Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: As part of efforts to preserve the iconic Taj Mahal for generations to come, the Government on Tuesday announced a hike in price of entry tickets to the Taj Mahal to Rs 50 , from the existing Rs 40.

Addressing a press conference, Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma announced the price hike and said the new tickets will be valid only for three hours.

"We need to preserve Taj Mahal for the generations to come. New 'barcoded' tickets would cost Rs 50 from the earlier Rs 40 and it would be valid only for three hours," said Dr Sharma.

A separate ticket of Rs. 200 will be needed to enter into the main mausoleum at Taj Mahal to ensure the protection of the built fabric and better crowd management, he said.

The Minister said as part of efforts to preserve the iconic monuments of the country, all monuments and the area around them would be made polythene-free.

The Minister said taking forward the proposal in the Union Budget, the Archaeological Survey of India has started work on ten prominent tourist sites to turn them into iconic tourism destinations:

The Minister also announced that an exhibition-cum-museum on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Indian National Army would be made inside Red Fort.