West Bengal's Rs.120-crore fillip for tourism

The West Bengal government will invest Rs.120 crore to develop infrastructure to attract more tourists, Principal Resident Commissioner Bhaskar Khulbe said here Saturday.

The money already allotted to the West Bengal Tourism Department by the chief minister will be used to develop 11 projects that include resorts, hotels and tourism hubs, basically in rural parts of the state.

"West Bengal is emerging as one of the fastest developing states in the country. We also want to make it a hub of working opportunity for youths of the state, with the tourism sector as one source for employment for them," said Khulbe.

"To draw more and more tourists, both from abroad and the various states of India, the projects will be developed under the Public Private Partnership mode and collaboration will be sought from foreign firms," he said.

"Denmark has already shown its willingness to join hands with the West Bengal government to upgrade the state's tourism to a new level," Khulbe added.