This time, the Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana, for which Rs 30 crore has been budgeted, is also in the spotlight.
BHUBANESWAR: The tourist industry, which contributes significantly to the state’s earnings, has this time got an enhanced budget of Rs 660 crore for further redevelopment work. Last time, the sector’s budgeted allocation was Rs 590 crore.
According to the new Odisha Tourism Policy-2022, the government has proposed investing Rs 400 crore for the development and management of tourist infrastructure and Rs 157 crore for the promotion of its tourism products with the goals of promoting tourism to undiscovered locations and creating resilient infrastructure. The state government gives fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the new strategy, which was unveiled during the Make-in-Odisha summit last year, to entice private sector investment.
This time, the Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana, for which Rs 30 crore has been budgeted, is also in the spotlight. Government plans to invest an additional Rs 224 crore under the ABADHA project, which would be utilised to improve the heritage city of Puri, as part of the ongoing effort to turn significant holy sites into top-notch pilgrim hubs. In the category of Integrated Development of Historic & Monuments and Tourism Attractions, it has also recommended spending Rs 150 crore.
In accordance with this, the state government is currently working on the Samaleswari Temple (Samalei Project) at Sambalpur, the Sarala Temple in Jagatsinghpur District, the Chandi Temple at Cuttack, the Nilamadhav Temple at Kantilo, the Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri, the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar (Ekamra Project), and Maa Taratarini in Ganjam District.