The Union Tourism Ministry has been according top priority to development of tourism in the area, since tourism has great potential for employment generation and economic growth. This was stated by the Union Tourism Secretary Sh. S. Banerjee recently while reviewing the progress of projects sanctioned to the State Governments for development and promotion of tourism in the North-Eastern Region. He said during the 10th plan period a total amount of Rs.319 crore was released to the North Eastern states including Sikkim, as against the mandatory provision of 10% amounting to Rs.269 crore. Similarly in the first year of the 11th plan i.e. 2007-08, against the target of Rs.95.3 crore (10% allocation of the budget) the actual expenditure on the North East including HRD & publicity amounted to Rs.170 crore. Sh. S. Banerjee said out of this amount, the amount released to the States for infrastructure development, Fairs and Festivals, Capacity Building for Service Providers and Information Technology was Rs.139.7 Crore.
The amount sanctioned and released for the year 2007-08 for Sikkim as follows:
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| 2007-08 (Rs. In lakh) (Rs. In lakh)
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| Sl No. | State/UT | No of Projects Sanctioned | Amount Sanctioned | Amount Released
|
| 1 | Sikkim | 27 | 6036.48 | 4824.82 |
Sh. S. Banerjee said, the Ministry has continuously been promoting the North Eastern Region through its publicity campaigns in the print, online and electronic media. In 2006, 4.45 million foreign tourists arrived in the country, 0.038 million foreign tourists visited the North East region and the number of domestic tourists who visited the North East was 3.9 million. The Union Tourism Secretary said however in order to tap the immense tourism potential of the region it is required that a concerted effort be made for upgrading infrastructure and ensuring better connectivity of important tourist destinations and circuits. (PIB)
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