Super resorts planned in Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep
Sunday June 6 2004 00:47 IST
NEW DELHI: In this season of cautious liberalisation, comes a proposal
from the Tourism Ministry to throw open the mysterious and restricted Andaman
and Nicobar Islands archipelago on the east cost and the coral lagoons of
Lakshadweep Islands on the west coast to private operators_to build super
resorts and luxurious hotels for the global, ritzy, ultra-luxe traveller.

The Tourism Ministry has enhanced private investment limits from Rs 5
crore to Rs 100 crore for the development of each project. The ministry is ready
with its exhaustive proposal and will soon send a note to the Cabinet for
approval.

The Andamans have been on the seafarer's list of wonders from time
immemorial_its 300 tropical islands was briefly noted by Marco Polo and
adventurous Arabs, but most of the islands were closed for entry for security
and conservation reasons. However, the few islands open for tourists have drawn
anglers and surfers from all over the world, to ride its gigantic waves and fish
for Blue Merlin and Dogtooth Tuna outside the restricted zones.

The Tourism Ministry's proposal has already got clearances from the
Ministry of Defence and the Home Ministry to de-regularise the restricted zones
and allow free flow of passage and trade. The ministry has identified 10 islands
in the Andamans like Havelock and North Passage, and 13 islands in Lakshadweep
including Amini, to develop resorts with full private participation. Says a
ministry source, ``The focus is to attract investments and develop the islands
with full environmental safeguards.''

Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhury is enthusiastic when she says, ``We will
guarantee clean and friendly eco-tourism, I will make it 300 per cent sure it
works that way. We will be extremely cautious about maintaining and securing
eco-systems of the islands and will open up in a limited way, for the exclusive
holiday-maker. In fact, the environment and ecological assessments have already
been made. We are taking every precaution and will work individually with each
project as no one size fits all.''

The Malayalam-speaking Lakshadweep Islands, off the Cochin coast in the
Arabian Sea, is a beach-comber's delight with its coral reefs and atolls. There
are already limited sport-recreational activities on some islands where you can
sail and dive, but by opening up the selected islands for tourism promotion, the
Lakshadweep archipelego is all set to leap onto the map of luxe lifestyle and
holidaying.

The Tourism Ministry has already set up an empowered committee to look
into the Island Development Plan, with the Tourism Secretary as chairperson of
the committee. Other members include representatives from the Environment
Ministry, Defence, Home, all of whom will lay down the guidelines for the
development of the resorts.

The committee will seek all the necessary approvals; invite bids for
private participation; evaluate and shortlist the bids; also invest, monitor and
co-ordinate the development of the projects.

On the sticky issue of permits for entry, a Tourism Ministry official
says, ``We have asked the Home Ministry to waive permits and remove restrictions
to those coming on business for at least three years, so that they have
uninterrupted access to begin with.''

Ministry officials are hopeful that foreign investment will begin to flow
once the Cabinet approves of the proposal. ``People are seeking more and more
unique places and destinations, but we are building resorts not for the
bagpacker but for the discerning tourist willing to pay for exclusivity,'' says
a source.






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Debi Goenka
Bombay Environmental Action Group

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