Lucknow: The Tourism Facilitation Center will welcome the tourists coming to Ayodhya. The government is preparing to develop a Tourism Facilitation Center in an area of 4.40 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 130 crore. Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is going to develop this tourism center at a predetermined place in Ayodhya keeping in mind the connectivity with National Highway 330 and National Highway 27. Tourism office, passenger accommodation, art and craft centre, food court and shopping mart along with various commercial centres, parking space will be built in the tourist centre.
The project will come off the ground within the next one to one and a half months. The Tourism Department will complete this through Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) model. In this detailed action plan, those sites which are currently located in Ayodhya have also been mentioned and the situation regarding their removal and retention during the project has also been clarified.
It is noteworthy that in this regard, the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department had already invited applications for bidding through e-tender portal. Out of these, four applicant companies have also been selected. In the further process, these companies will be given the opportunity for financial bidding and the selected company will then be provided Letter of Intent (LOI) and Concession Agreement by the Uttar Pradesh Government.
Many types of facilities will be developed in this Tourism Facilitation Centre. These include passenger accommodation (comprised of dormitories, banquet and MICE facilities), tourist center (which will act as a hub for tourism activities), tourism office, commercial area (art and craft gallery, shopping area and complex, food court, cafeteria and Restaurants etc.), amphitheatre, landscaped green public spaces with amenities, adequate parking space and services (water, power and DG backup). Development of streetlights, drainage, security, surveillance facilities such as firefighting, CCTV and HVAC are major.
Ayodhya Tourism Facilitation Center will have a total built up area of 3273 square meters. This includes shelter homes, craft villages, toilets and HAT structures. The road coming from Chowk Ayodhya Road will act as the main route to this site. To complete the project in this area, some existing infrastructure will also need to be removed or re-structured. Out of this, Night Basera and Shilpgram can be removed for area expansion under the project, however, the decision on this has not been taken yet and in case the decision is taken, this will also be mentioned while issuing the Letter of Intent. At the same time, the marked area of Ramkatha Park (which will have a stage with amphitheater), Quin Ho Memorial Park will be retained. Apart from this, work can also be done on the canal extension between Tourism Facilitation Center and Cultural Museum.
Along with UP, the city of Ayodhya, which has been the center of faith and spiritual interest of the country, is now ready to register its widespread presence on the global stage with the construction of Shri Ram Temple. After the completion of the construction of Shri Ram Temple, the traffic of devotees and tourists from different corners of not only the country but also the world will increase in Ayodhya. These works will be completed under the Master Plan 2031 for the integrated development of Ayodhya.
Keeping in mind the plot layout, internal road layout, utilities and promotion of green areas prescribed under Ayodhya Master Plan 2031, the developers will have to get the business plan passed from the Tourism Department and on the same lines the construction works under the project will be materialized.