Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, highlighted how India's newly built and upgraded airport terminals are being transformed into showcases of regional culture and heritage, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guiding vision of 'Virasaat bhi, Vikas bhi' (Heritage too, Development too).

Context

In his post on X, Shekhawat wrote that India's airports are no longer merely transit points but have become 'prateek' (symbols) of the country's rich history and art. He specifically cited the integration of motifs inspired by the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Mithila-Nalanda culture of Patna, and tribal art from Agartala into the design language of new terminals. 'This is modern India's flight,' he wrote, 'one that touches the sky while staying rooted to its origins.'

The post was accompanied by a video, reinforcing the visual dimension of the cultural installations being highlighted by the ministry.

Policy Backdrop

The 'Virasaat bhi, Vikas bhi' framework has been a recurring theme in Prime Minister Modi's public addresses since 2014, positioning heritage preservation not as a constraint on development but as an integral part of it. Under this approach, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has overseen the construction or upgrade of more than 100 terminals across the country, with regional artistic and cultural elements woven into architecture, murals, and interior design.

This template has been applied beyond aviation — highways, railway stations, and urban redevelopment projects have similarly incorporated local cultural identities, making public infrastructure a vehicle for projecting India's civilisational diversity.

Stakeholders and Impact

The initiative directly benefits local artisans and craft communities whose traditional art forms — from Mithila paintings to Tripura's tribal motifs — gain national and international visibility through high-footfall public spaces. For the broader tourism industry, culturally themed airports serve as a first and last impression, potentially deepening a traveller's curiosity about the region they are visiting or departing from.

Air passengers, numbering in the hundreds of millions annually across Indian airports, are the most immediate audience for these installations, experiencing regional heritage as part of routine transit.

What's Next

The Culture and Tourism Ministry is expected to continue advocating for this model as new terminal projects come online in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Northeast India. Parliamentary sessions and the ministry's annual tourism report are likely platforms where the scale and outcomes of such cultural integration will be formally documented and debated. The post by Shekhawat signals that the ministry intends to keep this narrative prominent as a pillar of India's soft-power and domestic tourism strategy.