Itanagar: Tourism industry in Arunachal Pradesh is poised for a giant leap with the state government attaching priority as well as people evincing keen interest in the sector which could prove to be a money spinner for the state, Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi on Saturday said.
“With coming up of the ambitious Trans Arunachal Highway (TAH) project, green field airport and other infrastructural projects in the state, Tourism industry will get a boost in the next few years,” Negi told reporters here.
“Good days are ahead for the state as the people are craving for peace and development. “Growth of tourism not only solely depends on the government but on the people who contribute a major share in its development,” Negi said.
“Tourism needs hospitality culture to progress. The best examples are Tawang district and Ziro in Lower Subansiri where people have successfully started the ‘home stay’ concept to attract tourists,” he pointed out, adding that for such innovative ideas Ziro was contesting to get the “world heritage site” tag.
“People should realise the importance of the tourism industry and need to invest in it. The state government will provide all logistic support like construction of good roads and other infrastructure projects for development of the sector but the major stakeholder will be the people,” he said and added that eco-tourism and tea tourism are another areas where investment could be made.
The CS said that the state could make rapid stride by investing in the fruit processing industries, a high potential sector of the state.
“Recently two tomato pulp processing units have been started at Dirang and Rupa in West Kameng district which will help improving the rural economy. Such plants could be established in other parts of the state too to multiply income for the farmers,” he said.
Arunachal would soon see a big boom in real estate and housing sectors with many entrepreneurs evincing keen interest to invest in housing projects in several districts of the state, he said adding, a major chunk of the unemployed youths would get employment opportunities through such project.
“The response of the people on social media during the 12-hour capital bandh was very encouraging which proved beyond doubt that they want peace in all aspects,” he commented adding, proactive steps need to be initiated in this direction.
Referring to the Chief Minister Employment Gurantee Scheme launched last year in the state, the CS disclosed that so far around 4,000 youths have been undergoing training with various service providers in the country and out of this, 1,200 youths have been provided jobs.
On the stalemate over the Greenfield Airport project, Negi disclosed that last week he had a meeting with the union secretary of civil aviation and the ministry had assured to start work on the project soon. (PTI)