UNESCO tentative list adds 3 Indian heritage sites

Three sites from India have been added to the tentative list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Convention, the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO announced on Tuesday. The three sites are the Karst-mud-volcano Complex of Baratang and Andaman Subduction Volcanoes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Sirpur Cultural and Archaeological Landscape in Chhattisgarh.
In a press release dated October 20, the Permanent Delegation of India to Unesco, based in Paris, announced the additions to India's Tentative List under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Inclusion on the tentative list is a prerequisite for any property to be considered for nomination to the World Heritage List. The delegation also acknowledged the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for its work in the process.
India has 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including 37 cultural sites, seven natural sites and one mixed site, following the inscription of the ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath in July 2026.
According to LG, Dinesh Sharma, the Andaman and Nicobar administration has now begun the process of preparing the 'nomination dossier'—the formal documentation required for submission to UNESCO—with the aim of securing a place on the final list of World Heritage Sites." These geological formations have become a vital source of invaluable information regarding the region’s geological evolution, tectonic activity, and unique ecosystems, he said.