Gujarat to seek Sri Lanka's help in setting up resorts

Gujarat will shortly contact Sri Lanka following its offer of assistance to set up resorts along the state's 1,600-km coastline.

Gujarat will shortly contact Sri Lanka following its offer of assistance to set up resorts along the state's 1,600-km coastline.

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"At the Vibrant Gujarat summit in January, Sri Lankan officials had offered to help us set up resorts on the Saurashtra-Kutch coastline on a public private partnership (PPP) model," a senior state tourism department official said.

However, according to him, two developments delayed any progress: Sri Lanka's preoccupation with the offensive against Tamil rebels, and the Lok Sabha polls in India.

Gujarat's tourism department officials had reportedly been told at the summit that Sri Lankan entrepreneurs were best equipped to help the state develop resorts on a PPP model given their long experience in developing such resorts in the island nation.

Following this, Gujarat too had shown an interest in inviting investment from Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to develop hotels and motels on the national highway on the Saurashtra coast connecting Jamnagar with Porbander.

"We are following up on the offers made by companies or individual entrepreneurs during the summit," the tourism department official said.