National Culture Fund

The National Culture Fund (NCF) was launched on 29th March, 1997. The main objectives for setting up of NCF was to  mobilize resources from government, non-government agencies, private institutions and individuals for the restoration, conservation, protection and development of the rich cultural and natural heritage of India and to encourage Public Private Partnership.

The National Culture Fund is managed and administered by the Council and an Executive Committee. The Minister of Tourism and Culture chairs the Council. The Council can have maximum strength of 24 members including Chairman and Member Secretary with 19 eminent members representing various fields like Corporate Sector, Private Foundation and Non-Profit Organisations. The NCF carries in built accountability towards the Indian Parliament and the donors for the activities commissioned under its aegis. The Project Implementation Committee executes the project. This has representation of the donors, the National Culture Fund, the civic authorities and Archaeological Survey of India wherever required. The accounts of the project are incorporated in the National Culture Fund accounts, which are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Donations to the National Culture Fund are eligible for 100% tax benefit under Section 80G (2) of the Income Tax Act.

Govt. of India, the Ministry of Culture has released the full amount of Corpus Fund of Rs.19.50 crores and has fulfilled the commitment of providing Rs.19.50 crores as Corpus Fund to the National Culture Fund. The secondary corpus with NCF as on 31st March, 2010 is Rs.10.90 crores.

Thirty six projects, both tangible and intangible, have been undertaken by NCF through funding from PSUs/Corporate Sector etc. out of which ten projects have been completed.

It is a continuous process through which Government has been making efforts to enthuse the different Ministries/Departments to encourage the PSUs/Corporate under their control to contribute to NCF’s cause through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Mandate.

Recently a publicity drive Show was organized in Bengaluru with, the corporate sector (especially Confederation of Indian Industries) for the purpose of couraging corporate sector to contribute to NCF.