About
To leverage the transformative power of culture and heritage conservation to improve the socio-economic conditions and quality of life of communities.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, runs India's most influential heritage-conservation programme. Built around the Humayun's Tomb-Sunder Nursery-Nizamuddin Basti Urban Renewal Initiative, its work pairs scientific conservation of monuments with the creation of public parks and the socio-economic upliftment of neighbouring communities - a 'culture as development' model that has reset standards for the field in India.
AKTC's India work began in 1997 with the Aga Khan's gift of the Humayun's Tomb garden restoration, completed in 2003 as the first privately funded restoration of a World Heritage Site in India, undertaken with the ASI under the National Culture Fund. At the government's invitation, a 2007 public-private partnership expanded this into the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative across a 300-acre precinct.
Over the following 25 years AKTC conserved more than 60 monuments (around 20 on the World Heritage list), created the 90-acre Sunder Nursery city park (opened 2018), and improved sanitation, health, education and livelihoods in the Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. The work pioneered scientific conservation in India - including the country's first use of 3D laser scanning and the revival of traditional tile and craft techniques - and culminated in 2024 in the underground Humayun's Tomb World Heritage Site Museum.
Visit & Access
Sunder Nursery and the Humayun's Tomb precinct, including the 2024 site museum, are open to the public in Delhi.
Founding & Leadership
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, established by His Highness the Aga Khan. Its India work is led by conservation architect Ratish Nanda. AKTC's engagement began as a gift to India on the 50th anniversary of independence - the restoration of the Mughal gardens of Humayun's Tomb (completed 2003), the first privately funded restoration of a World Heritage Site in the country.
The cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network; operates in India through public-private partnerships with the ASI and government bodies.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
The 1997-2003 restoration of the Mughal chahar-bagh gardens - the first privately funded restoration of a World Heritage Site in India.
A 300-acre PPP (from 2007) conserving 60+ monuments and integrating heritage with community development in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti.
A ~90-acre heritage city park created through extensive landscaping and monument conservation, opened to the public in 2018.
An underground site museum (2024) interpreting seven centuries of Nizamuddin's heritage, built for the ASI by AKTC.
Major conservation of the Qutb Shahi tombs complex in Hyderabad.
Pioneering scientific conservation methods (incl. 3D laser scanning) and reviving traditional building crafts, training a generation of Indian conservationists.
Cultural Funding
Cultural verticals
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Government partners
Funders & patrons
Public-private partnerships with the ASI under the National Culture Fund; co-funding with Tata Trusts and others.
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - national heritage
As the cultural agency of a large, well-governed international development network operating under formal government PPPs and the National Culture Fund, AKTC India sets a high bar for documentation and accountability. Its India-entity-specific 80G/12A particulars are [Data Not Publicly Available]; foreign funding is handled under AKDN's compliance framework. For a co-funder it is an unusually safe and capable partner.
Operates through PPPs and the National Culture Fund; a frequent co-funding partner for corporate and government heritage spending under CSR Schedule VII(v).
Recognition
The Humayun's Tomb restoration was the first privately funded World Heritage Site restoration in India; AKTC's work is widely regarded as the country's benchmark for heritage conservation.
[Atlas Assessment] AKTC's Nizamuddin work is the single most important heritage-conservation achievement in modern India. It proved that world-class scientific conservation was possible here, that private bodies could restore national monuments to the highest standard, and that heritage could be a genuine engine of community development rather than a museum piece. Almost every subsequent Indian heritage steward - including the corporate and government-backed ones - operates in its shadow and on its template.
AKTC India is the benchmark against which this atlas's other heritage profiles should be read. It scores at or near the ceiling on innovation and ecosystem influence - it effectively created modern conservation practice in India and trained the people who now staff the field - and very high on impact. It is also exceptionally well-governed and well-funded. There is no significant institutional caveat; the honest note is simply that its model is resource-intensive and partnership-dependent, and few others can match its endowment or expertise. That gap is precisely what makes profiles like Sabhyata and JSW legible by comparison.