World’s largest botanical garden to come up in Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh Government is planning to develop a 350-acre botanical garden near the Jungle Safari in Naya Raipur under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model with a minimum proposed investment of Rs 550 crore.

The proposed project, located around 12 km from Swami Vivekananda Airport, aims to create a world-class botanical and eco-tourism destination while utilising land that has remained largely undeveloped. The State Forest and Climate Change Department has also proposed a 43-acre botanical garden at Nandanvan on Bhilai Road at an estimated cost of about Rs 50 crore.

The final project cost would depend on the detailed project report and final design. As part of the investor outreach, representatives of several companies visited the Jungle Safari, the proposed botanical garden site and Nandanvan on Monday before attending a meeting at Aranya Bhavan in Nava Raipur.

The meeting was chaired by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Arun Kumar Pandey.

Among the firms that participated in the discussions were Noida-based Bhutani Group, Lucknow-based Shalimar Corp, Anopchand-Tilokchand Group, Avinash Group, Singhania Buildcon, Babylon Group, Myra Group, V-Net, Manoj Goyal and SDF Infra. The Forest Department has invited suggestions and proposals from prospective investors before finalising the projects. The proposed 350-acre botanical garden, if completed as planned, would be larger in area than the 326-acre Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London and the 273-acre Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Kolkata.

PCCF Arun Kumar Pandey said the projects have been conceptualised in line with the vision of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and under the guidance of Forest and Climate Change Minister Kedar Kashyap. He said the department is pursuing the projects through the PPP model to strengthen eco-tourism and environmental infrastructure in the State.