J&K expects a record 2cr tourist footfall

SRINAGAR: Over two crore domestic and foreign tourists are expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir, breaking previous footfall records, said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday. The Bollywood film industry will also shoot more films this year, he said.

“Last year, 1.88 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir. This year, we expect a footfall of over two crore, thereby breaking all records,” Sinha said, speaking to reporters after laying the foundation stone for a private college and hospital in Sempora, being built by a Delhi-based NGO. “More than 300 films were shot in the Union Territory last year and this year, we will break that record as well,” Sinha added.

A UAE-based realty group is also building a mega shopping mall costing Rs 250 crore in Sempora.

“The wonderful Bollywood era between the 1960s and 1980s is returning to J&K with people’s support. Around 300 movies have been shot in Kashmir. Yesterday, Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani came to meet me. Actor Shah Rukh Khan is also in the Valley for the shooting of his upcoming film Dunki. This is a testimony to the (improved) ground situation here,” he said, adding, “The return of Bollywood will help in employment generation and improve the economic condition of the UT as well as its people”.

The Lieutenant Governor said students of the Valley, who leave the state to study medicine, can enrol themselves for such courses in their native land after the Sempora medical college opens. Apart from this, many upcoming projects in J&K will provide employment opportunities and increase investments in the UT. The hospital with 100 beds “will provide world-class healthcare at affordable rates,” he added.

“This is one of the biggest private sector investments in the health sector of the UT, which will improve efficiency and quality of medical care,” he said, asserting, “It is a new era for private investments in J&K and a testimony to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to make J&K a leading investment hub in the manufacturing and service sector.”

J&K, Sinha said, now has two AIIMS, nine medical colleges and also leads in per capita spending on healthcare, since every family is covered under the Ayushman Sehat programme. “We are also making sincere efforts to transform J&K into a prime destination for medical tourism,” he said.