The monument of love and one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal, will now be in the hands of Tatas who have decided to step in and protect the national heritage.

Chairman of Tata Group of Companies, Ratan Tata, will sign a memorandum of understanding with Union tourism and culture minister Anant Kumar on Thursday that will allow the Tata Group to manage and maintain the national monument.

At present, Archeological Survey of India is the only agency responsible for the protection, preservation and beautification of the Taj Mahal.

Officials in ASI apprehend that privatisation of Taj Mahal is against the concept of conservation as the private player may construct any building as per the corporate demand.

Mr Kumar told The Asian Age that paucity of funds has forced the government to hand over the national monuments to private sector for the upkeep and conservation of monuments of national heritage.

Earlier, the Oberoi Group and the Aga Khan Foundation were granted the conversation and upkeep of Humayun Tomb.

Indian Oil Corporation is responsible for maintenance of Konark Temple. The company paid Rs 20 crores for taking over the monument and every year they contribute Rs 10 crores to the National Culture Fund. The culture ministry manages NCF that has a corpus of Rs 19.6 crores. APJ Group are managing the Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

The UP government had earlier decided to privatise the upkeep of at least 50 monuments. However, the three monuments that belong to the ASI and are also world heritage sites — the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort — were not touched.

The government has thrown open the monuments to private players to market, promote and for other tourist-friendly services such as parking for vehicles, guides, refreshment centres, events and maintenance, Mr Kumar said. However, he refused to comment on the MoU to be signed between the government and the Tata Group.