Gujarat to spend Rs.120 crore to develop 10 beaches

Gujarat will invest Rs.120 crore on developing its beaches, Gujarat's state tourism corporation chief Kamlesh Patel said Tuesday.

"Our plan is now to promote beaches. We have identified ten beaches across the state where we will invest Rs. 120 crore in order to create infrastructure and promote these places as beach tourism destinations," Patel said.

Patel, who heads the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) , was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a tourism promotion campaign organised by the corporation to promote fairs and festivals in Gujarat.

He said that the development of the beaches would be carried out on a public private partnership basis, where the investment by the state government itself will be next to nothing.

Gujarat would be the second state in western India after Karnataka to exploit its beaches with the help of the private sector. Panambur in northwestern Karnataka was one of the privatised beach project promoted by the Karnataka government, which aims to emulate the Goa beach experience within its own border.

Gujarat has a coastline which stretches nearly 1,600 km and the state has nearly 10 beaches along the stretch.

Patel also said that festivals and fairs helped promote socio-cultural-religious unity.

"The way Gujarat has promoted its tourist destination along with its traditional fairs and festivals at national as well as global level is an example for the rest of India," Patel said.

Gujarat attracted over 2.4 crore tourists in 2012-13.