The Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Shri E. Ahamed informed the Rajya Sabha today that the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is in the process to open 8 new cultural Centres at Washington, Paris, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Toronto, Sydney, Hanoi and Singapore. ICCR arranged the visit of 473 cultural groups to other countries during the last three financial years as per the details given below:
Year No. of Groups Amount spent
2009-10 138 Rs. 9.50 Crores
2010-11 165 Rs.12.66 Crores
2011-12 170 Rs.17.28 Crores
ICCR is maintaining 35 Indian Cultural Centres and 2 Sub-Centres abroad as per the list below.
Indian Cultural Centres Abroad:
1. The Nehru Centre London (U.K.).
2. The Tagore Centre Berlin, Germany.
3. Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre Moscow, Russia.
4. Indian Cultural Centre Astana, Kazakhstan.
5. Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre for Indian Culture Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
6. Indian Cultural Centre Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
7. Indian Cultural Centre Kabul, Afganistan.
8. Indian Cultural Centre Colombo, Sri Lanka.
9. Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre Jakarta, Indonesia.
10. Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture Port Louis, Mauritius.
11. Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture Cairo, Egypt.
12. Indian Cultural Centre Durban, South Africa.
13. Indian Cultural Centre Johannesburg, South Africa.
14. Indian Cultural Centre Geoergetown, Guyana.
15. Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
16. Indian Cultural Centre Paramaribo, Suriname.
17. Indian Cultural Centre Suva, Fiji.
18. Indian Cultural Centre Beijing, China.
19. Indian Cultural Wing Kathmandu, Nepal.
20. Indian Cultural Centre Bangkok, Thailand
21. Indian Cultural Centre Abu Dhabi, Dubai.
22. Indian Cultural Centre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
23. Indian Cultural Centre Tokyo, Japan
24. Indian Cultural Centre Mexico.
25. Indian Cultural Centre Thimphu, Bhutan.
26. Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre Dhaka, Bangladesh.
27. Indian Cultural Centre Yangon, Myanmar.
28. Indian Cultural Centre Dar-es-Salaam, Tanjania
29. Indian Cultural Centre Seoul, Korea.
30. Indian Cultural Centre Budapest, Hungary.
31. Indian Cultural Centre Prague, Czech Republic
32. Indian Cultural Centre Male, Maldives.
33. Indian Cultural Centre Sao Paulo, Brazil.
34. Indian Cultural Centre Riyadh.
35. Indian Cultural Centre The Hague, Netherlands.
Sub-Centres
1. Sub-Cultural Centre Lautoka, Fiji.
2. Sub-Cultural Centre Bali, Indonesia.
This information was given by the Minister of State for External Affairs Shri E.Ahamed in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.