Agartala, April 25, 2023: Eyeing to sustainable livelihood, employment generation and an alternate source of economic development, Tripura’s Tourism Department has initiated multifaceted programmes for revamping the tourism industry with modern amenities and infrastructures, Tourism minister Sushanta Chowdhury said on Tuesday.

Although, BJP in its “Sankalp Patra” made commitment of spending Rs 1000 crore in the tourism sector of Tripura but funding of over Rs 1600 crore from central government, Special Assistance Fund and Asian Development Bank would be spent in these five years, Chowdhury said while addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat here in Agartala city on Tuesday afternoon.

He added that there were footfalls of 2,84,849 tourists comprising of 35,137 tourists from foreign countries and 2,49,712 tourists arrived from various states across India.

Citing the progress of tourism sector in Tripura, he said “Under ‘Swadesh Darshan-I’ Phase-I, work of 11 tourist centres is almost at the final stage of completion. These include- Agartala, Sepahijala, Melaghar, Udaipur, Amarpur, Mandirghat, Tirthamukh, Narkelkunj, Dumbur, Ambasa, Baramura etc. In the first phase, Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned Rs 82 crore 84 lakh 74 thousand. Of this, Rs 73 crore 74 lakh 57 thousand have been spent so far and the work progress is about 97 percent.”

“Under ‘Swadesh Darshan-I’ Phase-II, Rs 50 crore 38 lakh have been sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism and out of this, released amount Rs 16 crore 57 lakh has been spent till now while the work progress is about 48.30 percent”, he added.

Sharing the tourist places of Tripura which were enlisted for creating more attraction are- Surma Cherra Water Falls in Kamalpur under Dhalai district, Shahid Dhananjay Memorial Garden in Jolaibari and Bharat-Bangladesh Maitri Uddyan in Chottakhala of Belonia under South Tripura district, Neeramhal in Melaghar and Buddhist Stupa in Sonamura under Sepahijala district, Jampui Hills and highest mountain ridge in Kanchanpur under North Tripura district and Unakoti in Unakoti district. Initiatives were also taken to beautify Pilak Tourist Centre in South district, Gunabati and Bhubaneswari Temples at Udaipur in Gomati district through the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ (Phase II) project, minister said.

Apart from this, Chowdhury also said “Efforts have been made to put ‘Mata Tripura Sundari Mandir’ in Udaipur, one of the tourist centres of the state, on the world tourism map through a multi-faceted plan under ‘Prasad’ Project. Accordingly, the Government of India has sanctioned Rs 37 lakh 80 crore through ‘Prasad’ project on Janurary 08, 2021 to develop ‘Mata Tripura Sundari Temple’ as a spiritual tourist centre and to make it more attractive to tourists from domestic and foreign countries. However, Rs 21 crore 18 lakh was released and the progress of the work is about 62 percent.”

“In the list, there are construction of 49 Log Huts, setting up of helipads, installation of ropeways at Matabari and Chabimura in Gomati district, introducing motor or speed boats, water scooters, started state institute of hotel management with two degree and five diploma courses, Pushpabanta Palace to be transformed into Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Museum and Cultural Centre with an amount of Rs 40 crore and centre released Rs 10 crore, adventure tourism, light and sound show, five house boats at Dumbur lake, etc.”, he also added.

In the press conference, Tourism Secretary Uttam Kumar Chakma and Director Tapan Kumar Das were also present.