IL&FS to prepare detailed project report.
The state government has revived the proposed international airport, which had been put on the back burner, at the Buddhist hub of Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
A meeting in this regard was held recently where Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), consultant to the project, was asked to prepare the detailed project report (DPR).
“Things have started moving in this direction. However, it would take some time before the blueprint is ready,” UP tourism secretary and managing director, State Tourism Development Corporation Avnish Awasthi told Business Standard.
The Buddhist circuit comprising Sarnath, Kushinagar, Sankisa Kaushambi, Shravasti and Kapilvastu attracts pilgrims from around the world, especially Japan and Southeast Asia.
The proposed airport will directly connect Japan, Myanmar, Korea, China, Thailand, Bhutan and Sri Lanka with Kushinagar, since these countries account for the maximum number of tourists in the circuit.
He said the state government was keen to build the airport at Kushinagar in public-private partnership and also develop the Buddhist circuit on a design built finance operate transfer (DBFOT) basis.
The government owns nearly 160 hectares of land in Kushinagar for the proposed airport and would acquire more depending on the report. IL&FS will also have to adhere to the Archaeological Survey of India norms while preparing the blueprint.
Meanwhile, the tourism department is carrying out the valuation of about 70 hotels and guesthouses across the state. The government wants to privatise these properties since most of them are loss-making and non-functional. “While 30 units have been closed, 15 others are loss-making entities. Besides, others are earning only marginal profits. If UP wants to benefit from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, we have to find buyers at good prices now, since the loss-making and closed units are getting devalued every day,” Awasthi said.
He maintained that the government was not sell these properties, but only divest 76 per cent of its stake.
