Google in association with ASI will now make available virtual tours of monuments in India

Internet and tech giant Google has tied up with Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) for 360 degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country, an official of the company said.

"We have a tie-up with ASI for 360 degrees virtual tour of 280 monuments across the country of which 30 are in West Bengal," Sanket Gupta, programme manager of Google Maps told reporters here.

He said ASI had given the permission to Google for creating the virtual tour, which would be available in the maps.

Some of the major monuments are Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial and the ruins of Hampi, he said, adding eight were from Kolkata.

He said Google has launched an array of products in India like offline view of maps, live traffic alerts and inclusion of unknown places on the maps by local guides.

Asked about Google Street View, Gupta said that authorities at the central and state levels were denying permission.

"In India we are trying to work with the state and central levels for allowing Street View," he said, adding neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had allowed the same.

Gupta said one billion people across the globe were using Google maps and India was among the top five.