New Incentive Policy on the anvil
Dr. Sanjay Singh, General Manager, Chhattisgarh Tourism, gives details about the state’s initiatives to enhance infrastructure through a new Incentive Policy that is slated to be released next month.
The relatively young state of Chhattisgarh is aggressively on the go to up its tourist arrivals numbers and boost tourism in the state. In 2014, the state received 244.88 lakh domestic tourists and 7,777 foreign tourist arrivals with a growth of 19.37 per cent and 24.81 per cent respectively.
Singh said that the state has several tourism products to offer but exemption on luxury, entertainment and electricity, among other concessions,” he elaborated.
Adding further, Singh said that the state’s single window system has been administered to enhance interactions and simplify the process for clearances and incentives and a special committee has been formed to fast-track tourism projects.
Chhattisgarh is currently focusing on developing niche tourism products such as eco tourism, mainly its water bodies.
“We have a total of three national parks and 11 wildlife sanctuaries. Apart from this, the state is rich in water dams, the largest one being Hasdeo Bango dam, and about 4050 fresh backwaters that range from 10-50 kms with green forests all around. There are adventure tourism opportunities surrounding these areas, so the idea is to turn these water bodies into tourist hubs with state-of-the-art amenities.