State govt to develop Saputara as prime tourism hub

Sources said the state government to start with has decided to build hotels to do away with the accommodation problem there. There are around 13 hotels,which is not enough to accommodate tourists during the peak season like Diwali,Christmas and summer holidays.

The state government has now identified nine plots each measuring 5,000 sq m,which will be auctioned to build hotels and guesthouses in the township,which is easily accessible from major cities like Ahmedabad (409 kms),Mumbai (250 kms),Vadodara (310 kms) and Surat (164 kms).

Dangs district collector P K Solanki said the plots will be auctioned any time before the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit-2011. “As the real estate prices have shot up in the last couple of years,the state government expects to raise Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 crore from sale of plots only.”

He added that the total investment in the tourism hub may go up to Rs 1,000 crore once the hotels are constructed and commercial activities begin there.

The Saputara hill station,according to tour operators,has better panoramic view and provide better opportunity than hill stations like Mount Abu. “Tourists like to spend time in the natural surroundings. Similarly,Mount Abu in Rajasthan lacks proper hotels and existing ones are very expensive,” one of the tour operators said.

But Solanki feels that the tables will turn in the next couple of years with coming up of more hotels and creation of infrastructure facilities by the state government.

He said the state government is also constructing a new lake and also planning to widen the road between Navsari and Saputara for smooth flow of traffic,a power substation,an ATM centre and an underwater aquarium. Other facilities to come up include an amusement park,adventure park,water park and a floating restaurant in the new lake. A total of 20,000 sq m of land has been provided for these facilities in township’s masterplan.