The Bekal Fort in Kasaragod and the Mattancherry Palace Museum in Kochi together earned a revenue of Rs.36,05,916 for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) during 2014-15 by way of sale of tickets to visitors. The revenue is Rs.1,95,371 more than the previous year’s collection.
These are the only two ticketed Centrally protected monuments in Kerala under the management of the ASI. The two monuments are among 116 ticketed monuments in the country under the ASI and the entire revenue from these monuments is remitted by the ASI to the Consolidated Fund of India.
As per the revenue figures from ticketed monuments released by the ASI last week, the Taj Mahal brought the biggest revenue last fiscal from ticket sales (Rs.21.23 crore). But that was a drop by more than Rs.59 lakh compared to the previous fiscal. The Agra Fort was the second biggest revenue earner in this connection – Rs.10.58 crore last fiscal. The Qutab Minar in Delhi in the third position accounted for revenue of Rs.10.29 crore. Other top revenue earning ASI monuments in the country through ticket sales last fiscal are Humayun’s tomb (Rs.6.35 crore), Red Fort (Rs.5.97 crore), Mamallapuram Monuments (Rs.2.70 crore), Sun Temple, Konarak (Rs.2.57 crore), Khajuraho Temples (Rs.2.04 crore), Ellora Caves (Rs.2.04 crore), World Heritage Site, Hampi, Karnataka (Rs.1.47 crore), and Elephanta Caves (Rs.1.40 crore).
The total revenue for the ASI through ticket sales from the 116 monuments touched Rs.93,38,50,612. But that was a drop of Rs.3,46,67,215 compared to the revenue from the previous fiscal. Maharashtra has the highest number of ASI ticketed monuments, 17, followed by Uttar Pradesh, 16.
