|
To promote tourism in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government will lease 30 tourist houses of the Tourism Department that are closed for years to the private sector so that they can be promoted as tourist destinations.
"A preliminary report suggests that the tourism business in some areas will increase by giving these tourism accommodations, built at prime locations in different districts of the state, to the private sector associated with home tourism business. Many people will also get employment in these hotels," a government spokesman said.
He said the Tourism Department was now conducting an evaluation to assess the value of these tourist guest houses and once the prices of these guest houses were evaluated, the investors would be consulted and a proposal for leasing these tourist houses to the private sector would be sent to the cabinet.
In 2016, a decision was taken by the Akhilesh Yadav government to lease 37 tourism guest houses to the private sector. A tender was floated but the people associated with tourism business did not show much interest.
"Only six tourist houses were leased out, including Tiger Den of Dudhwa, Ramgarh Tal in Gorakhpur, and guest houses in Deoria, Mathura and Mahoba," the official said.
Officials vouch that the Tiger Den is doing a good business in Dudhwa while a developer is building Marriott Hotel in Ramgarh Tal. The department had given it on a lease of Rs 79 lakh, which would increase by five per cent every year and the department would share in its profits after five years. Work has not started in Mathura and Mahoba. The tourism guest house of Deoria is also attracting public.
The official said a survey was carried out to find out whether the private players were interested in the closed guest houses and after getting an affirmative report, the government decided to put these tourist guest houses under the hammer.
The 30 tourism houses that the Tourism Department is going to give on lease include guest houses of Mathura, Agra, Siddharthnagar and Mirzapur.
The officials of the Tourism Department have held a meeting with the developers after the consent of the government to lease these tourist accommodation houses.
"After the construction of temples in Ayodhya and the promotion of religious tourism in the state, hoteliers are showing interest in these guest houses," the official said.
The tourist accommodations to be given on lease include those in Bateshwar (Agra), Bhadohi, Bhupia (Pratapgarh), Chunar (Mirzapur), Devgarh (Lalitpur), Deva Sharif (Barabanki), Devkali (Etawah), Hargaon (Sitapur), Kachla (Budaun), Kalinjar (Banda), Kapilvastu (Siddharthnagar), Khurja (Bulandshahr), Neera (Sitapur), Birds Vihar in Unnao, Sandila (Hardoi), Sankisa (Farrukhabad), Shikohabad (Firozabad), Sunauli (Maharajganj), Soro (Etah), Shukratal (Muzaffarnagar), Bithoor (Kanpur), Kandhla (Muzaffarnagar), Gokul (Mathura), Mathura and Barsana (Mathura).