Source: The Economic Times Pune March 21, 2013
Theme park to come up in Sindhudurg
PUNE: About 1,300 acre of land will be acquired for the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation's (MTDC) Oceanarium-based theme park, previously referred to as Sea World, in the Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district, courtesy the budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore for the 2013-14 fiscal.
An outlay of Rs 285 crore has been proposed for the financial year for infrastructure development in the tourism sector.
The Oceanarium-based theme park, which is expected to attract domestic as well as foreign tourists, will come up near the upcoming Chippi airport in Malvan, at Tondavali-Vayangani villages. "About 1,300 acre of land is to be acquired for the project and its supporting infrastructure such as resorts, marinas and hotels for tourists.
The land to be acquired has been identified and the techno-feasibility report of the project has been approved. A few months ago, the detailed project report work of the project was awarded to the Science and Technology Park in Pune," a senior MTDC official said.
He added that the detailed project report work, which also has some foreign consultants working on it, will be completed by May this year. "
Once it is ready, it will be sent for approval to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the environment ministry. After we get their approval, the tenders will be floated on a public-private partnership basis, the official said.
He added that Rs 185 crore would be reserved for other tourism projects, including the ongoing as well as some new ones.
To promote agricultural and rural tourism, a provision of Rs 50 crore has been made for the coming fiscal for tourism development in select villages in Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Thane districts of the Konkan region.
