The two-day summer festival at Yelagiri Hills was inaugurated by Tourism Minister Vellamandi N. Natarajan on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, he said Tamil Nadu bagged the top place in the number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting the State between 2014 and 2016. This year, ₹173.42 crore was allotted to the Tourism Department. Development work was taken up in Yelagiri Hills with Central government funding of ₹3.72 crore, according to a press release.
Work will be taken up to promote tourism at Andiappanur Odai, for which ₹1.3 crore has been sanctioned.
Commercial Taxes Minister K.C. Veeramani said tribals of Yelagiri Hills had been demanding an electricity sub-station for a long time.
Work to acquire land for the purpose was completed.
Auditorium work
A proposal to construct an auditorium at Yelagiri at a cost of ₹1.5 crore was submitted through the Rural Development Department. Steps would be taken to construct an auditorium to host the summer festival, he said.
Government departments have put up stalls to showcase various schemes as part of an exhibition at the festival. An exhibition-cum-sale of products manufactured by women SHGs is part of the festival. Labour Minister Nilofer Kafeel and Collector S.A. Raman were present.
