Uttarakhand govt to offer tax holiday to tourism sector

KOLKATA: Uttarakhand government has decided to extend tax holiday and other benefits to tourism industry and hotels in the state that is home to attractions like Rishikesh and Haridwar, Tourism Minister Prakash Pant said on Monday.

"In the industrial policy announced by the state government up to 2010, tourism has been given the status of industry and as such tax holiday and other benefits will be extended to tourism indsutry," Pant told reporters at a press conference.


He said tourism budget in the state, created seven years back, has increased to Rs 92 crore from Rs 82 crore in the previous year.

The state government, he said, encourages private-public partnership to promote tourism in the state where tourists outnumbered population. Uttarakhand has a population of 84 lakh while the number of tourists visiting the state in 2007-08 was 2.22 crore, he said.

In the first six months of the current year, over 1.41 crore tourists including nearly 58,000 foreign tourists had visited Uttarakhand, he said.

The focus of the Uttarakhand Tourism Board was to develop tourism-related resources of the state in an eco-friendly manner with active participation by private sector and local communities.