Sir — This refers to the report, “Gujarat excluded from ‘Incredible India’ campaign!” (July19). The Union Ministry for Tourism promotes various Indian tourism destinations and products in a holistic manner and does not run separate promotional campaigns for individual States, except for Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern States.
Gujarathas been included in the ministry’s ‘Find What You Seek’ (international) and ‘Go Beyond’ (domestic) campaigns. Gujarat’s Hodka Village finds place in the Ministry’s rural tourism promotional film. Gujarat also has a page in the 2014 calendar of the Union Ministry of Tourism .
The ministry had sanctioned 14 tourism infrastructure projects worth Rs 35.58 crore during the 10th Five Year Plan; nine tourism infrastructure projects worth Rs 85 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan and one tourism infrastructure project for an amount of Rs 4.86 crore during the year 2012-2013. During the last financial year, even more tourism infrastructure projects would have been sanctioned to the State, but it failed to submit utilisation certificates to the tune of Rs 8.19 crore for the advances released to it up to March 31, 2011. As on March 31, 2012, the Government of Gujarat had an outstanding advance of Rs 35.64 crore.
The Tourism Ministry had sanctioned a project worth Rs 7.33 crore for the development of Dandi as a tourist circuit covering Dandi-Gandhi Smriti Railway Station-Karadi during the year 2009-2010. The ministry will sanction phase II of the Dwarka project when the State Government submits the required clarifications.
CH Prashanth Kumar Media Consultant to Minister for Tourism Government of India