The new Andhra Pradesh tourism policy announced on Monday seeks to attract investment of about ₹10,000 crore by 2020, create 5 lakh jobs by encouraging private sector participation, and transforming the sector into a revenue-generating one.

The policy unveiled by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu describes all projects with an investment outlay ₹Rs 200 crore and above as mega-tourism projects. These would be entitled to get additional concessions on a case-to-case basis, to be approved by the State Investment Promotion Board.

The Tourism Policy 2015-2020 has been charted out with support from various State departments, the industry expert workshop at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and KPMG.

According to the policy, AP is on the threshold of evolving as the most preferred tourist destination, offering opportunities for investors. The policy, coupled with tourism opportunities, is seen to attract projects under the public-private participation (PPP) mode.

The policy aims to contribute about 7 per cent of the State GDP by creating 5 lakh jobs.

The State has decided to constitute the State Economic Development Body to serve as an apex level decision making body. The Commissionerate of Tourism is proposed to be strengthened to function as a Tourism investment cell and a Single Desk Bureau.

Various tourism services will be entitled to investment subsidy of 5-15 per cent of the total project cost and the Government will support the same by building complimentary linkage infrastructure. The State may also provide additional support if the tourism project entails investment of over ₹20 crore.

The tourism projects will be entitled to 100 per cent reimbursement on registration and stamp duty, VAT rebates, lower energy tariffs and industry status for specified purposes.

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