Day: August 10, 2013

Aiming to be among top five travel destinations, the West Bengal hopes that its two ambitious projects - Jharkali in Sundarbans and Gajoldoba near Siliguri would help improve the tourist inflow. West Bengal currently ranks ninth in tourism with tourist inflow of nearly 24 million per annum, and is looking to scale up inbound visitors upto 30 million over next two years. Jharkhali in Sundarban and Gajoldoba near Siliguri, shall be developed as multi tasking tourism hubs. The two ambitious projects are expected to attract investments upto Rs 5,000 crore. Land and infrastructure will be provided by the government, while eco-system for tourism promotion will be developed by private players on PPP model. Gajoldoba, 35 kilometres east of Siliguri, is part of Terai-dooars forest circuit, and is