Railways to boost tourism in Himachal Pradesh: Goyal

Union minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the railways will work to strengthen the tourism sector in Himachal Pradesh, noting that pleasant weather conditions in the state provide ample opportunities.

Goyal, the Union minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry, was speaking at the valedictory function of a two-day event here to attract investment to Himachal Pradesh.

"The railway department is already laying four new rail lines in the hill state and it will further work in such a way which may help in strengthening the tourism sector," Goyal said while presiding over the valedictory function of the Rising Himachal Global Investors' Meet.

Pleasant weather conditions in Himachal Pradesh provide ample tourism opportunities, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the state government had already signed 614 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) of nearly Rs 93,000 crore against the set target of attracting investment of Rs 85,000 crore to the state through the meet.

"When we decided to hold the meet about a year ago, several objections were raised but we kept concentrating on making the meet a success. I hope the MoUs will convert into actual investment and the youth of the state will be benefitted a lot with the investment," the chief minister said.

"We will keep on attracting investment in the state even after the meet," he said.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur termed the event "historic" and congratulated the chief minister for holding the meet.

There are a lot of possibilities of investment in Himachal Pradesh, he said, adding whatever industries have so far been set up in Baddi of Solan district, that could be possible only because of special package announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to the hill-state on December 1, 2002 on the initiation of then chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Himachal Industries Minister Bikram Singh said the state government would ensure to materialise the MoUs in the next two years.

Union Home minister Amit Shah was supposed to preside over the valedictory function but he could not come due to bad weather conditions.