By IANS
New Delhi : As India’s profile rises across the world, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday made a special mention of projecting India’s “soft power” in a more “sophisticated and subtle manner” by propagating the country’s rich art, culture and entertainment.
While presenting the national budget for 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha, the finance minister proposed that the entertainment industry be projected in a more sophisticated manner and announced an allocation of Rs.750 million to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
He said: “India’s music, literature, dance, art, cuisine and especially films are attracting huge interest around the world. This is the ‘soft power’ of India, and it must be projected in a sophisticated and subtle manner.”
“I propose to provide Rs.75 crore (Rs.750 million) to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to design and implement a programme to achieve this objective.”