Andhra in talks with Orissa for circuit train project

Hyderabad: With Karnataka backing out from the Southern Splendor project, (the circuit train connecting all major tourist destinations in the South) Andhra Pradesh is talking to Orissa to join the project.

Karnataka has launched its own train Golden Chariot, connecting the tourist destinations in the State.

“The itinerary for the train would be reworked including the destinations in Orissa. It would include destinations in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” Mr Jayesh Ranjan, Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), said.

Meanwhile, the Union Government has sanctioned Rs 46 crore to develop a ‘mega heritage circuit’ in the Tirupati-Nellore area. “We are going to develop the circuit in Nellore and Chittoor connecting all major temples. We will develop amenities for tourists,” Ms Kanti Singh, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, said.

Addressing a press conference at the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) here on Wednesday, she said Andhra Pradesh attracted 12.79 crore domestic tourists and 7.69 lakh foreign tourists in 2007. “The State is among the top recipients of Central assistance for the development tourism in the last three Five-Year Plans,” she said.

The NITHM would construct a Rs 150-crore four-star hotel at its Gachibowli facility in public-private partnership mode.