'G-20' opens the doors of visitor centers

-Centres at Ajanta-Ellora: Will be bustling with tourists again after five years

Aurangabad: After being closed for five years, the visitor centres set up by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) at Ajanta and Ellora caves are set to reopen for tourists on the occasion of the G-20 conference.

These visitor centers were created so that there is no danger to the caves in the future and tourists can see the caves from the visitor centre itself. However, within a certain period of time, the MTDC was finding it difficult to maintain these buildings. The closure of the visitor centres was due to the lack of funding for the technical manpower required for the visitor centers, the cost of maintenance and repair of the state-of-art equipment required for the centre, water and electricity bills. Due to the corona pandemic it was further affected and the tourists had to wait for these centres to reopen. However, on the occasion of the G20 conference, the necessary works were completed in the centres. The centres will be reopened for tourists. MTDC general manager Chandrasekhar Jaiswal said that the visitor centre at Ellora is ready for the G20 conference.

Will remain open permanently

Necessary works at the visitor centre have been completed. The centres at both Ajanta and Ellora will remain open permanently, said Deepak Harne, regional manager of MTDC.

How many foreign tourists arrived

During the seven months from April to October 2022, 1,583 foreign tourists visited Ajanta Caves and 2,525 visited Ellora Caves.

Number of tourists visiting Aurangabad:

Year - Domestic tourist

2019-20 - 27,70,325

2020-21 - 3,71,226

2021 - 6,57, 008

2022 (October) - 17,82,783