Uttarakhand: Indian mountaineers can now climb major mountain peaks for free

In order to boost adventure tourism in the state, the Uttarakhand Tourism Department has decided to waive the fees which Indian climbers had to pay to climb the major mountain peaks in Uttarakhand.

This new move, however, remains unchanged for foreign nationals who are visiting the state for climbing expeditions.



Now that the Indian mountaineers can trek for free, famous mountain peaks like Nanda Devi, Panchachuli III, Trishul III, Mukut Parbat, Bhagirathi III, Gangotri III, Satopanth, Shivling, Srikantha, Vasuki Parbat, Kamet, Hathi Parbat, Dunagiri, and Chaukhamba IV are getting added to the list of mountains to climb.

Earlier, Indian mountaineers were required to pay INR 3000, INR 4000 and INR 6000 to ascend peaks up to 6,500 metres, 6,500-7000 metres, and above 7001 metres respectively. Now all these fees are all eliminated for Indian mountaineers. For foreign nationals however, the fees (INR 20,000, INR 25,000, and INR 40,000) remains unchanged.


All of these fees, earlier, were directed to the forest department and the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.


It is imperative to note that it’s just the waiving of the climbing fees. Other important obligations like submitting applications and taking prior permissions from the concerned authorities, that is, the state tourism department, are to continue as before.

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The main aim behind this big move is to attract more adventure tourists to the state. Uttarakhand has always been a hub for adventure tourism with activities like white water rafting, kayaking, trekking and paragliding to name some. The state tourism department is of the opinion that with free climbing options now, there would be more interest from the adventurous travellers from all parts of the country.