Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has directed to distribute Rs 250 crore for tourism development in the state.

Ten ‘District Tourism Officers’ on an experimental basis for tourism development in ten districts of the State.

The decision to establish a tourism society in the district for the participation of private organizations for tourism development.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar today directed to immediately disburse Rs 250 crore for the development of tourist destinations like Mahabaleshwar, Ekvira Devasthan, Lonar Sarovar, Ashtavinayak, Konkan beaches etc. in the state. He also approved the appointment of District Tourism Officers on a pilot basis in ten important districts of the state. A decision was also taken in today’s meeting to encourage the establishment of tourism societies in the districts to involve private organizations in tourism development in the district.

A special meeting was held at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to review the tourism development projects in the state and promote tourism. Minister for Tourism Aditya Thackeray, Minister of State for Tourism Aditi Tatkare, Principal Secretary for Tourism Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary for Finance Rajgopal Deora and other senior officials were present. The state cabinet yesterday approved the state’s adventure tourism policy. Against that backdrop, a meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar took important decisions in terms of tourism development. Apart from the disbursement of 25 per cent of the budgetary funds in phases, Rs 72 crore should be paid for 100 per cent of completed works of tourism development. It was also decided that experts working in the field of agro-tourism should be considered while appointing district tourism officers on an experimental basis and on a contract basis.