CRZ obstructing tourism projects in Andhra Pradesh: Minister

Minister for Tourism Bhuma Akhila Priya Reddy today said that Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification has been coming in the way of development of tourism in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the regional tourism-investors and stakeholders meet organised by AP Chambers and AP Tourism department here, Bhuma Akhila Priya said she would lead a special team to New Delhi on Monday to apprise Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam on the bill to amend CRZ notification to facilitate beachfront construction to promote the tourism sector in the state.
Division of Andhra Pradesh has led to unemployment and the tourism is the only sector that could provide employment on massive scale, the minister said.

The Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating major changes to the tourism policy (2015-2020) to attract more investments into the sector and to expedite projects for which MoUs have already been signed, she added.
"There was a gap between the tourism department and the investors in the sector and we will bring some changes in the Tourism Policy to bridge the gap to take many of the tourism projects from the MoU stage to execution stage," the minister added.
Principal Secretary, Tourism, M K Meena said in the past few years over 145 MoUs had been signed in the tourism sector in the state, entailing an investment of Rs 10,300 crore, but till now 74 projects had been grounded entailing an investment of Rs 3,500 crore.

The remaining projects are stuck in technical and financial issues, he said.
At present, there were only 8,500 good hotel rooms in the state, including those in five-star hotels, but at least 10,000 more hotel rooms would have to be added by 2025, he said.