Himachal tourism corp has registered over Rs100 cr turnover for first time: CM

The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has registered a turnover of over Rs 100 crore for the first time, said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presiding over a meeting of the corporation and the Tourism Department here today. He added that this milestone was made possible due to the earnest efforts of the state government.

He said that the HPTDC had achieved an annual turnover of Rs 78 crore during the tenure of the previous BJP government and it had risen to Rs 107 crore under the present state government though there were challenges posed by natural disasterse. He directed the officers concerned to improve services across the HPTDC properties and explore the possibility of leasing its vacant properties on the operation and maintenance basis to private players.

The Chief Minister said that due to the profits earned, the HPTDC had been able to clear Rs 41 crore benefits of the pensioners in the past two and a half years while the previous BJP government had disbursed only Rs 26 crore during its five-year rule. He appreciated the purchase agreement reached with the Food and Civil Supplies Corporation for the supply of materials, including ration, groceries and other essential items, to HPTDC hotels.

Sukhu also reviewed various development projects of the Tourism Department and directed the officers concerned to expedite the work on these to generate maximum revenue for the state and improve infrastructure for tourists. “The state government is investing Rs 2,415 crore for the development of better infrastructure, wayside amenities and the promotion of other adventure sports to attract tourists,” he added.

He instructed the Tourism Department to provide food vans to local people and commence hop-on, hop-off luxury bus rides on local tourism routes in the state. He also asked the department to complete the construction of Shivdham in Mandi district at the earliest and the beautification work in the Renuka lake area in Sirmaur.

Sukhu instructed the officers concerned to swiftly operationalise heliports to improve air connectivity to various hill stations of the state. He reviewed the airport expansion projects in Kangra, Shimla and Bhuntar to provide better air connectivity to tourists.

Chairman, HPTDC, Raghuvir Singh Bali, MLA Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary Devesh Kumar and Director (Tourism) Vivek Bhatia attended the meeting.

Himachal Tribune