Vikramshila might once again witness the flow of tourists, especially foreigners, like centuries ago with the Centre expressing willingness to include the ancient seat of learning in the Buddhist circuit.

The half-excavated site of Vikramshila, located around 265km east of Patna, is expected to be on the agenda of the three-day Buddhist conclave in Varanasi from September 28 organised by the Union tourism ministry. The meeting assumes significance because the Varanasi conclave could take a resolution on including Vikramshila in the Buddhist circuit in accordance with the tourism ministry’s plan.

The Buddhist circuit comprises places such as Bodhgaya, Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda and Sarnath where Gautam Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, preached and reached Nirvana.

Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay had on September 7 in a reply to a question of RJD MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told Parliament that his department could include Vikramshila in the Buddhist circuit. Sahay’s comment sparked hope that the lost glory of Vikramshila could be finally revived.

Not only residents started celebrating the development, the BJP legislator from Pirpainty, Aman Kumar Paswan, organised a huge gathering on September 8 in Kahalgaon with people smearing each other with gulal and lighting up fire crackers. Vikramshila Nagrik Samiti, which is leading a movement for the revival of the university, sent a letter to Sahay appreciating his move.

Though Sahay was not available for comment, a source close to him said: “Neither the minister nor anybody in the ministry has claimed that Vikramshila has been included in the Buddhist circuit. What has been said is that the ministry is interested to include it in the circuit.” He added: “There has to be proper infrastructure facilities in and around the half-excavated site for this. It is the duty of both the Centre and the state government.”

“Representatives from 16 states, including Bihar, would attend the Varanasi conclave. They are expected to submit blueprints for developments of their respective places. We hope that the representatives of Bihar would certainly submit their blueprint on the developmental schemes for the ancient world university in Bhagalpur,” the source said.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had initiated the excavation work at the site in the early 1970s during the tenure of then Bihar chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad. Incidentally, Azad was the MP from Bhagalpur. Four decades have passed since then, but the 8-km stretch of two roads connecting the excavate site to National Highway 80 continues to be in a dilapidated condition. The situation is same on the 32-km stretch of NH-80 from Kahalgaon to Bhagalpur.

Pawan Kumar Choudhary, an expert in Vikramshila affairs, said 10 years ago, a tourist centre was set up with funds from Rajya Sabha member Naresh Yadav. Now, the Antichak police station is functioning at the centre. “Around a-year-and-a-half ago, the district administration got some money to acquire 10 acres adjacent to the excavated site. But it failed to acquire the land,” he said.

NTPC Ltd had also come forward with some help, but nothing concrete happened. “Two years ago, we had proposed to set up a library. We are still awaiting the nod of the Geological Survey of India,” said Subhashis Ghosh, general manager, NTPC Ltd, Kahalgaon.

Bhagalpur district magistrate P.S. Meena said the roads leading to the excavated site would soon be repaired.

The last ray of hope is the conservation plan for the historical ruins designed in December 2011 by the ASI utilising funds earmarked from National Cultural Fund and the NTPC. “To include Vikramshila in the Buddhist circuit, infrastructure development is of utmost importance. There has to be proper connectivity to the site. Vikramshila has enormous tourism potentiality,” said Sanjay Manjul, superintending archaeologist of ASI (Patna circle).

“The blueprint prepared by the three organisations will be submitted at the Varanasi conclave,” a source said, adding that Rs 2 crore has been earmarked for the blueprint of conservation and development of the site.