Karnataka government to lease land to private players under new tourism policy

The state government has offered to lease land to private entrepreneurs, under the new Karnataka Tourism Policy 2020-25, to undertake various projects for the benefit of tourists.

The ‘tourism land bank’ will be developed under the ‘tourism development fund,’ which will receive a budgetary allocation from the government, along with support from external sources. The fund will be utilised for the development of common infrastructure facilities in the land bank.

“Further, (for) the development of common infrastructure facilities in the land bank, the land shall be leased out to private entrepreneurs under the land lease policy through a transparent tender process,” the policy says.

The objective is to ensure ready land for entrepreneurs who want to invest in the tourism sector, according to Tourism Minister C T Ravi.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that the state planned to attract foreign tourists. “We are introducing several programmes and will encourage investment in the tourism sector,” he said.

According to the Tourism department, the government aimed to generate over 10 lakh direct and indirect jobs in the sector, along with investments to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore. An investment facilitation cell will come up under the Department of Tourism to act as the nodal agency for enabling, facilitating and monitoring investments.

Infra assistance, concessions

The policy also offers complementary infrastructure assistance (CIA) along with capital investment subsidy, interest subsidy and concessions such as stamp duty exemption provided in previous policies.

The CIA of up to Rs 25 lakh “may be provided for tourism projects” for road access, last-mile connectivity, power connectivity, water supply or other essential infrastructure, says the policy.