Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has secured an Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) grant from the European Union for the Tourism Management Section of its Faculty of Arts.

The university stated that this is the first Erasmus grant awarded to the Faculty of Arts and that it is the largest Erasmus funding received by BHU so far. The grant amounts to 780,000 Euros, which is approximately Rs 8 crore, and has been awarded for three years from November 2025 to October 2028, states a press release by BHU.

The funded project, titled SacredTravels4Growth: Higher Education and Sustainable Growth through Religious Tourism, brings together 16 partner institutions from eight countries, namely Albania, India, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Moldova, Malta and South Africa. BHU and Karnataka University are the Indian partners in the project.

This consortium aims to strengthen higher education capacity in religious tourism, cultural heritage preservation and sustainable regional development through international collaboration.

The university said that the BHU project team is led by Dr Pravin Rana from the Tourism Management Section, with Dr Shyju PJ serving as Quality Assurance Head. Additionally, Prof Jyoti Rohilla (Senior Researcher, Art History) and Dr Priyanka Singh (Researcher, RGSC Barkachha) are also part of the research team.

According to the institute, the project will benefit faculty members, students and other stakeholders through international exposure and capacity-building activities. These include four international training workshops and study visits that will be hosted across partner countries, including Albania, Moldova, South Africa, India, Slovenia, Spain, Malta and Greece.