Gujarat govt selects 23 islands for 'holistic development'

The Gujarat government on Tuesday identified 23 of the 144 islands on the state's coastline for "holistic development", and set up an 'Island Development Authority'.

These 23 islands have an area of around 50 hectares each.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at a meeting in Gandhinagar, a government release said.

The state has a 1,600 km-long coastline.

Though the idea is to develop these islands as tourist spots, the discussion at the meeting was about how to develop them "holistically", the release said.

The chief minister also gave his nod for formation of the Island Development Authority, it added.

Rupani directed the administration to conduct a detailed survey before taking up development of the islands so that their ecology is not damaged, the release said.

The islands would be developed as per the Centre's Island Development Policy and the state government will seek Central funds for it, it said.