Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley laid the foundation stone of the new office complex of the Ministry of Tourism ‘Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Paryatan Bhawan’ at Mandir Marg in New Delhi on the occasion of World Tourism Day.
The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge), and Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh Sharma and Member of Parliament, Meenakshi Lekhi. Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi, senior officials of MOT and NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar were also present at the function. Jaitley said that we need modern airports and maximum inflow of flights for attracting international tourists. Indian Tourism Centres should be opened in those countries from where we receive maximum tourist inflow, he explained. Clean railway stations and a good experience of rail travel is another component along with availability of low and medium budget hotels. Highlighting the role of states, he said that for creating strong tourism infrastructure, it is important to take the help of states. The Finance Minister said that the new Paryatan Bhawan will now provide a base for working on all aspects of tourism and increasing the potential of tourism in India. Sharma said that tourism is the engine of economic growth and we need to increase India’s share in world tourism from 0.68 to 1 % by 2020 to realise the full potential of this sector. Tourism helps in women empowerment and youth employment.
Zutshi said that tourism is an important instrument of economic growth. We must utilize every opportunity to enhance tourism in India which can help in building the economy and generate employment. Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Paryatan Bhawan is a project of Ministry of Tourism for multilevel car parking cum new office complex. The new building will be structure of G+3 storeys plus 2 basements with stack car parking with area of 23,000 Sq. Meter. Estimated cost for the project is Rs 150 crore approx.
