Karnataka to create land banks for tourism sector
Land acquisition has become a major concern for tourism infrastructure and hence the state government has decided to intervene with the aid.
By PTI |
PANAJI: The Karnataka government on Friday said it would create land bank at major tourism sites and offer land to investors at concessional rates to set up hotels and other physical infrastructure in the state.
"We are creating land bank at potential tourism sites. We will acquire land for the projects and lend it to private players," Karnataka Tourism Secretary I M Vitthalmurthy said on the sidelines of a tourism conference yesterday.
Vitthalmurthy said the government will provide its land at 50 per cent market price to set up hotels, theme parks and other infrastructural projects in the state.
The land owners who are ready to part with their holdings can be given equity in the projects, he mentioned.
Land acquisition has become a major concern for tourism infrastructure and hence the state government has decided to intervene with the aid, he said.
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"We are creating three main areas where we would welcome investment in tourism sector. The North Karnataka region which has heritage destinations like Hampi, Bijapur and Bagalkot, is one of the area where we are looking for investors to set up hotels, Spas, theme restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and the like," he said. Vitthalmurthy said that same set of opportunities lie in the southern heritage areas of Hassan and adjoining areas of Mysore.
"Talks are on with major hospitality players who have shown keen interest to invest," he said.
According to the state government statistics, tourism has recorded 15 to 20 per cent growth over the last three to four years. The state's tourism budget is also hiked from Rs 15 crore few years ago to Rs 148 crore in 2007.
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