The Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) will develop an eco-ethnic destination at Sarodha Dadar in Kabirdham district. The Saroda Dadar Resort was opened in January this year.

The 12 -room resort is ideal for the pilgrims visiting Boramdev temple and Boramdev sanctuary. Two gates -Mukki and Sarhi- of the Kanha National Part are located at a distance of 50 kilometers from the resort.

It may be recalled that the Chhattisgarh government is also creating an ‘eco-ethnic’ tourist destination near the world famous Chitrakot water falls in Bastar region.

The State government has signed MoUs worth Rs 12 crore for development of world-class tourist facilities during ‘Incredible India Tourism Investors’ Summit (IITIS)- 2016’ organised by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry and the Tourism Finance Corporation of India from September 21 to 23, 2016 in New Delhi to promote investments in tourism sector in India.

Several key announcements were made at the valedictory session of the summit.

States like Gujarat, Rajas-

than, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh exchanged 86 MoUs during the session and many more are in the pipeline, aggregating close to Rs 15,000 crore, officials said.

At the summit, Gujarat exchanged MoUs close to Rs 9,000 crore, Karnataka with Rs 2,600 crore, Rajasthan with Rs 1,000 crore ,Uttarakhand with Rs 500 crore and Chhattisgarh with Rs 12 crore. Also, BR Shetty Group is keen to invest Rs 450 crore and Costa Cruise Rs 750 crore and Triveni Singapore close to Rs 800 crore in the country.

Chhattisgarh is among two other States which sent a proposal  to the Union Ministry of Tourism last year for its theme-based ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme for development of eco-tourism infrastructure.

The proposal by Chhattisgarh is for ‘Integrated Development of Eco Tourism’ circuit in Rajmergarh–Kabir Chabutra-Achanakmar Tiger Reserve- Kurdar-Sirpur-Kodar Dam-Gangrel Dam-Kanger Valley National Park, officials said.

Telangana  sent proposal for ‘ Integrated Development of Eco Tourism circuit’ in Mahaboobnagar district and Kerala sent proposal for ‘Integrated Development of Eco Tourism’ circuit in Gavi – Pathanamthitta

Promotion, development of tourism and its infrastructure including promotion of eco-tourism/heritage tourism is primarily the responsibility of the State governments and Union Territory Administ-

rations, officials said.

The Union Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for projects that are complete as per existing scheme guidelines and are sanctioned subject to availability of scheme/funds and utilisation of funds released earlier.

Notably, in 2014-15, the  CTB had drawn up ambitious plans to develop India’s biggest ‘Eco-tourism hub’ in the State, an official press release issued last year said.

The press release said that CTB had already received Rs 113.5 crore project prioritization go ahead from the Union Ministry of Tourism to take its plans forward.

The CTB, under the aegis of the State government created a blue-print of the future plans that will help establish Chhattisgarh as India’s biggest eco-tourism hub, it said.

The Central government has put up 2019-20 as timeline for completion of the Tribal Tourism Circuit. The Tribal Tourism Circuit will provide an opportunity to the tourists to witness and experience tribal culture and traditions in Chhattisgarh, officials said.

The key components for development under the project are ‘Ethnic Tourist Village’ and ‘Ethnic Tourist Development’, Destination Development and Wayside amenities. The project would be developed by CTB.

The Tribal Tourism Circuit comprises of Jashpur-Kunkuri-Mainpat- Ambikapur-Maheshpur -Ratanpur-Kurdar-Sarodadadar Gangrel- Kondagaon –Nathyanawagaon -Jagdalpur Chitrakoot -Tirthgarh under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

 Notably, the Central government has approved Rs  99.94 crore based on a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by CTB for development of the Tribal Tourism Circuit in the State under ‘Swadesh Darshan’ package. The approval was given after a secretary-level meeting held in New Delhi, officials said.

 The objective of forming the tourism circuit is to highlight rich and ancient tribal culture and environment of Chhattisgarh’s tribal dominated regions.

In this circuit, Jashpur, Ambikapur and Sarodhadadar would be developed as ethnic tourist village and Mainpat, Kurdur, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot and Teerathgarh are to be developed for eco-ethnic tourism while work for sight amenities will be carried out in Kunkuri, Maheshpur and Nathiyana-

wagaon.