Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Aug 09, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Aug 09, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Environment Sahara submits project report on Sundarbans Our Bureau
Kolkata , Aug. 8 THE Sahara group has submitted a detailed project report (DPR) for an integrated Rs 540 crore eco-tourism project in the Sundarbans in West Bengal. The project will include barge-mounted floatels, pilgrimage tourism facilities at Gangasagar, bio-food product parks, craft villages and access to wildlife. Sources told Business Line that a meeting between State Government officials and the Sahara group will be held shortly to discuss the DPR and set a timeframe for the project. The meeting is expected to pave the way for a memorandum of agreement (MoA) and getting vital clearances for the project. The MoU for the project was signed last October. The project will be a joint venture between the State Government (which is investing in the form of the land) and the Sahara group, which will invest in the infrastructure. A total of 9,630 sq. km out of the 26,000 sq. km in the Sundarbans region (land and water) is proposed to be developed. There are 102 islands in the Sundarbans area of which 54 have no forest cover. Situated in the south of West Bengal and jutting out into the Bay of Bengal, it is the only mangrove tiger land in the country. The Indian part of the Sundarbans was separated from that in the erstwhile East Pakistan on December 18, 1947 and `Project Tiger', with an area of about 2,485 sq. km, was initiated in 1973. An area of 1,330 sq km was given the status of a national park in 1984 and 1,255 sq. km was designated as buffer area. The current project is proposed to be located mostly in this buffer area. Of the project cost, nearly Rs 300 crore is expected to be spent on creating basic facilities, while nearly Rs 70 crore will be spent on developing the land and setting up power projects from renewable sources. The funding pattern has not been finalised by the group. But it is likely to be a mix of internal resources, equity and borrowing, and timeshares.
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