The State government will unveil an investor-friendly tourism policy very soon, according to Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya.
Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat on Thursday, the Minister said investors don’t feel at ease with the existing policy. The Tourism Department suggested amending the existing policy to attract the investors.
The lease period, at present, was 33 years. The investors wanted it to be made 99 years. Also, they were unable to meet lease amount of 2% of market value of the land. The proposal was to bring it down to 1%. Likewise, the lease period would be made either 60 years or 99 years. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has to take a decision in this regard, she said.
Ms. Akhila said the Tourism Department entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with about 250 agencies/firms. Of them, only 20 to 30 firms were serious in taking their proposals to the logical conclusion. The government would take back the lands given to the companies/agencies that haven’t started any work till date.
The government already served notices on an agency that has come forward to develop Devlok, the world’s first mythological and spiritual theme park, at Tirupati. The government would take back land from the firm, she asserted.
Stating that there was no dearth of land for the Tourism Department, the Minister said that the department would allot lands to the firms that were keen on executing projects as per schedule. As part of tourism promotion, the government was planning to develop Rayalaseema circuit at a cost of ₹100 core. A revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) was submitted to the Union government, including the temples and places of importance that were not included in earlier DPR. Also, Araku tourism circuit would be developed at a cost ₹50 crore, she said.
Explaining about the department’s tourism plans, Ms. Akhila Priya said that she urged the Union government to set up a regional office of Tourism Finance Corporation in Amaravati.
The department conducted various events such as balloon festival, crafts mela in the recent past. These events would be made calendar events, and efforts would be made to obtain copyrights for such themes, she said, adding, a concert of A R Rahaman would be organised in Kakinada on December 21.
