If the Andhra Pradesh government has its way, the State could become home to India’s first Disneyland.
The State government has sought information on land and other requirements from a private investor who evinced interest in setting up Disneyland on the lines of the one in Paris. With talks still in initial stages, details are yet to emerge but the government is said to be actively pursuing the proposal.
A similar proposal was floated to the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh in the past without any development. If past land demands are any indication, as much as 2,000 acres may be sought. Disneyland is among the several novel initiatives AP government is planning, to tap its tourism potential. Others include water sports, theme parks, cruise tourism, spiritual tourism and beach tourism among others. Development of convention centres akin to Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati are on the anvil. The government’s tourism mission document, expected later this year, is expected to detail these initiatives. In the meantime, the AP government has received a final draft of tourism policy to regulate tourism investment.
According to sources, the policy aims to boost tourism in the State by focusing on indirect revenue like tax collections, a major shift from the 2010 policy which aimed at filling State’s coffers through direct revenue like lease rentals. “A few suggestions have been put forth in the new policy which is aimed at lowering lease rentals but maximising government revenue through indirect revenue. This would attract investors and also help accrue revenue in the long run,” an official, seeking anonymity, said.
Investors now pay five per cent of land’s market value per acre as lease rental every year. On Visakhapatnam outskirts the average rental amounts to Rs. 20 lakh per acre. At a stakeholder’s meeting held earlier this year, investors voiced that high rentals made investment prohibitive. The new policy will be reviewed by the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the Cabinet before coming into effect by end of this 2014. It would be valid till 2019.
