Tamil Nadu Declares Subsidies For New Amusement Projects
Raadia Mukadam /Chennai

In a bid to give a fillip to domestic and inbound tourism into Tamil Nadu, the state government has announced incentives and subsidies to develop amusement parks across the state. Informing Express Travel & Tourism about this move, Varaprasada Rao, commissioner and managing director, Tamil Nadu Tourism (TNT) revealed, “We receive more than three crore domestic tourists each year, and with this move, we aim at increasing the average stay of these tourists eventually resulting into generating more revenue from tourism.”

“Amusement parks play a significant role in augmenting entertainment provided to a tourist. We are identifying land in different parts of the state for this purpose. We want to invite entrepreneurs from different parts of the country to launch such facilities in Tamil Nadu. The state will facilitate procurement of loan from other financial institutions for all such projects with a subsidy amounting to 10 per cent of the total project cost contributed by the state government which will finally be waived off. Such subsidies are bound to evoke interest in the leading players from the amusement park industry.”

According to Rao, the Tamil Nadu government will assist private players to acquire land at subsidised rates and will also provide required technical assistance in preparing project reports for subsequent approvals and loans. In an endeavour to facilitate such projects, Rao further divulged, “The department will assist all new projects to clear their project reports from the industrial and forest departments expeditiously.”

Further, it is learnt that the state government of Tamil Nadu has deployed Rs 11 crore toward infrastructural development in and around areas where these amusement parks will be established.

Detailing further about the preparations being already done in this direction, A Ismail, tourist officer, Salem, revealed, “One of our hottest tourist spots is Yercaud, which is one of the three beautiful hill stations of Tamil Nadu. We realise that besides natural beauty tourists often need entertainment to supplement their holidays. We have thus identified 48 acres of land at Yercaud, which has been earmarked for developing amusement parks. Having identified the land, in an initial endeavour, we have allocated Rs 40 lakh to launch Yercaud’s first amusement park. A highlight of this park will be a toy train which will be a unique experience for tourists. We are however seeking participation from the private sector for a bigger project.”