Rs.100 crore for restoring government's tourism assets

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The government has announced a special package of Rs.100 crore for rebuilding or building destroyed or damaged government tourism assets, parliament was informed Tuesday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, union Culture and Tourism Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said though the tourism ministry has not granted any package for tourism promotion in Uttarakhand, it has announced a special financial package of Rs.100 crore for "rebuilding/building destroyed/damaged government tourism assets, of which an amount of Rs.72.55 crore has been sanctioned with the release of Rs.10.58 crore".

He added that according to the Uttarakhand government, the study undertaken by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) revealed an estimated loss to the economy of about Rs.12,000 crore.

"Loss to government tourism properties has been assessed at approximately Rs.116 crore. Due to lack of access to some of the affected areas, the loss to all private tourism assets could not be fully assessed so far," Naik said.

In addition, the ministry has also sanctioned a central financial assistance of Rs.145.17 crore for various tourism infrastructure projects in Uttarakhand in 2013-14, the minister added.