MoUs worth INR 2,905 crore signed to boost tourism in Maharashtra

Maharashtra's Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Minister of State Aditi Tatkare, on the occasion of National Tourism Day, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth about INR 2,905 crore which will be used towards the development of tourism in Maharashtra. 

The event was organized at Sahyadri State Guest House, whereby the officials stated that through this agreement, the government will focus on constructing hotels, resorts, wellness centres, health centres, theme parks across various parts of Maharashtra.

These locations will include many tourist facilities like meditation centres, ropeway, swimming pool, spa, health club, boating etc. Besides the tourism development, the department will also look at offering jobs for nearby 6,754 positions in the next few years.

MoUs were signed with companies like Mandke & Mandke Group (Ratnagiri), Maharshi Vedic Health Pvt. (Pune), Shivai Krishna Ropeways (Pune), Hotel Nagpur Ashok (Nagpur), Automatic Hotels and Resorts Pvt. (Nashik), Blue Shine Hospitality (Sindhudurg), Beach Cottages (Sindhudurg), Ocean View Resorts (Sindhudurg), Nilkanth Leisure LLP (Nashik), Lake View Ventures (Nagpur), Sio Infra (Mahabaleshwar), Triota Ventures (Aurangabad), Mehrun (Jalgaon) which will work hand-in-hand with the department to promote various projects and develop the hospitality sector.

The Department of Tourism has assured that the state will provide all possible assistance to expedite these projects, and also help the officials avail various policies and schemes offered by the Government. As per the current plan, all these projects are expected to be completed between June 2022 and 2024.

Talking about the same, Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray said that the state government has given industry status to the hospitality sector and the number of licenses required for this has been reduced. He assured that the government will continue to take important steps to move this sector forward, and has announced agri-tourism policy, beach sack policy to boost tourism in the state. Caravan tourism policy is being planned and will be announced soon.

Adding more, Aditi Tatkare said that there is a huge scope for tourism in the state, especially in the post-COVID period. The government will promote tourism in all parts of Maharashtra, whereby activities like tourism festival will be implemented in all the departments. With the government granting industry status to the hospitality sector and reducing the number of licenses required for it, there is ample scope for investment in this sector in the state. Therefore, entrepreneurs in this sector should come forward to seek opportunities and the government will help them in every possible way.