Hyderabad: A mythological theme park in Tirupati costing Rs 355 crore, which will showcase all temples in India, a ropeway and skywalk at Gandikota Fort in Kadapa, night safari at Sri Venkateswara Zoo at Tirupati, a hope island project and Arogya Dhamam in Vizag are in the offing in Andhra Pradesh. To make Andhra Pradesh a tourism hub and front runner in attracting tourists, the government has prepared various projects to attract Rs 6,000 crore investment and called interested investors.
The government will be developing tourism projects in three categories such as government projects, PPP projects and private sector projects. The government has divided tourism into two heads, theme-based and destination-based. It has hired consultants to prepare a set of project reports, which will be made available to interested investors.
In theme-based development, the government has identified beach tourism, recreation tourism, religious tourism, Buddhist tourism, spiritual and wellness tourism, heritage tourism, medical tourism, eco tourism etc.
Since government resources are limited, majority of these projects will be aimed at inviting private sector investment. A relatively smaller proportion will be for PPP and investment through government agencies. The government will undertake selected projects like support infrastructure, eco tourism projects, ITDAs and others. The PPP mode will entail development of government land through competitive bidding and policy incentives.
