Ahmedabad, 22 September 2014

Minister of state for Tourism, Saurabh Patel is on visit to Delhi to attend an advisory committee meeting on Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be attending this meeting.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, is celebrated in India on 9 January each year to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in Bombay on 9 January 1915. A celebratory event is held on 7–9 January each year in an Indian city:

Celebration of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2015 would be the centenary year for Mahatma Gandhi’s returning to India from South Africa. On completion of 100 years of arrival of Mahatma Gandhi, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas of year 2015 will be celebrated in Gujarat capital Gandhinagar.

The budget for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in 2012 was Rs. 7.86 crore, in 2013 it was Rs. 8 crore but in 2014 it has been increased to Rs. 13 crore. The BJP government in centre has in its last budget increased overall budget of Ministery of Overseas Indian Affairs from Rs. 97.88 crore in 2013 to Rs. 148.98 crore this year.

Established in 2003 by then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebration is sponsored by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs of the government of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region of India.