India has retrieved as many as 28 antiquities from various countries till date even as there is no proposal for retrieval of artefacts from British Museum, London, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
"Till date, 28 antiquities have been retrieved from various foreign countries. Presently, there is no proposal with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for retrieval of artefacts from British Museum, London," Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply.
The Archaeological Survey of India, under the Culture Ministry, retrieves antiquities from foreign countries which are exported in violation of Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972.
Sharma said National Museum in the city has planned to organise an international exhibition 'India and the world' for which 150 original artefacts will be temporarily brought from the British Museum.
The exhibition will be jointly organised by the National Museum, New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai and British Museum, London.
At present the National Museum has over two lakh objects out of which 9,347 are on display.
Objects are displayed as per theme, significance and available space in the museum. From time to time, the artefacts are replaced from reserved store, the minister said.
The expenditure incurred on the National Musuem was over Rs 31 crore in 2015-16, he said.
On another query, Sharma said, "There has been no new acquisition in historical artefacts during the last five years. However, one manuscript was received by the National Museum as a gift in 2016 and another art object titled 'Yogni', which was smuggled out of India, was brought back in 2013 from Paris (France).
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