A project site to set up a ‘Village Heritage Centre’ at Auroville, near Alankuppam village, was inaugurated on Monday.
The joint project of Government of Puducherry and Ille-et-Vilaine, County Council, Bretagne Region, Government of France, is estimated to cost ₹96 lakh.
The Government of Puducherry and Ille-et-Vilaine, a County Council in France, signed an agreement back in 2012 for a joint project to promote rural tourism in Puducherry.
The project is to be executed by Mohanam Svaram at Auroville as the ‘executive agency’ under the financial support of the Tourism Department, Government of Puducherry, and the Ille-et-Vilaine County Council.
The proposed village heritage centre will have a craft training centre, a cultural centre, a plaza, dance and music verandah, an amphitheatre, a village pond, an exhibition space etc.
Malladi Krishna Rao , the Minister of Tourism, Puducherry, inaugurated the project on Monday and the foundation stone was laid in the presence of Revenue and Industries Minister M.O.H.F. Shahjahan, retired IAS officer and Secretary, Auroville Foundation, Mohan Verghese Chunkath, Secretary to Government (Tourism) B.R. Babu, and Director of Tourism R. Mounissamy. Auroville working committee members, town development council members and village leaders were also present.
