The Tamil Nadu tourism Development Corporation, in association with the Fisheries Department, will set up a world class oceanarium at a cost of Rs. 250 crore at Mamallapuram under public-private-partnership mode. A new field fossil museum will also be set up at Ariyalur at a cost of Rs. 2 crore.
After the announcements were mentioned in the budget, a senior TTDC official told The Hindu that it would be the first-of-its-kind oceanarium in the country and tenders would be floated for preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR). Currently, two sites have been identified for the project and based on the DPR, the government would finalise the location.
“We need at least 15 acres of land near the shore The oceanarium will display live models of all the varieties of fishes starting from salt water fish to sharks. Apart from being a tourist attraction, it will generate awareness about marine life,” he said. The government on Thursday announced allocation of Rs. 67.91 crore for the current year.
Mr. Panneerselvam said Rs.10 crore would be allocated towards publicity materials to popularise `Destination Tamil Nadu 2014’ and Rs. 153.95 crore for the tourism sector.
