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The Union Culture Ministry told Parliament on 13 August 2026 that 18 monuments have been delisted from the centrally protected list since 2021.
The delisting was done under Section 35 of the AMASR Act, 1958, which applies when a monument ceases to be of national importance.
The Archaeological Survey of India now cares for 3,688 centrally protected monuments and sites.
The delisted sites include Bara Khamba Cemetery and the Nicholson Statue in Delhi, Kos Minars in Haryana, and Telia Nala Buddhist ruins in Varanasi.
The ministry also said India has retrieved 662 artefacts from abroad till June 2026, 589 of them from the United States.
Governs the preservation of ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains declared to be of national importance, and regulates archaeological excavations and the protection of sculptures and carvings.
If the Central Government is of the opinion that a monument or site has ceased to be of national importance, it may declare so by notification in the Official Gazette - the provision used for these 18 delistings.
Created the 100-metre prohibited area around every centrally protected monument and a further 200-metre regulated area, and provided for the National Monuments Authority, which was set up in 2011.
Regulates the export and trade of antiquities and art treasures and requires their registration - the framework behind India's efforts to bring back artefacts taken abroad.
Conservation, protection and maintenance of centrally protected monuments; archaeological exploration and excavation; site museums. Founded in 1861 with Alexander Cunningham as its first Director General.
Statutory body that grants or refuses permission for construction-related activity in prohibited and regulated areas around centrally protected monuments, and grades and classifies monuments
Parent ministry for the ASI, the NMA, national museums, archives and academies
Only the Central Government can declare a monument to be of national importance; state archaeology departments protect a separate and much larger set of state-protected monuments
Parliamentary scrutiny in earlier years flagged that dozens of centrally protected monuments could not be physically located, which is the backdrop to the delisting exercise
Artefact returns run on the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 domestically and the 1970 UNESCO Convention on illicit trafficking of cultural property internationally
GS Paper I > Indian Heritage and Culture; GS Paper II > Statutory bodies and government policies for conservation
General Awareness > Art and Culture; Acts and organisations
General Awareness > Indian heritage and important organisations
An ancient monument or archaeological site declared as such by the Central Government under the AMASR Act, 1958
The area extending 100 metres around a centrally protected monument, where construction is generally not permitted
The 200 metres beyond the prohibited area, where construction requires permission from the National Monuments Authority
Medieval milestone pillars built along imperial highways, many of them built or restored in the Mughal period