Gujarat Budget: INR 50 crore allocated for tourism development in Surat Economic Region – ET TravelWorld

To develop world-class infrastructure in South Gujarat as part of the Surat Economic Region (SER), finance minister Kanu Desai in his budget speech on Thursday said that 56 projects have been conceived. These aim to boost industry, tourism, roads and infrastructure across the six districts of Surat, Bharuch, Valsad, Navsari, Tapi and Dang.

INR 50 crore was allocated for hotels and beach resorts, the Parsi circuit, cruise tourism, beach hotels, theme parks and eco-tourism in the Surat Economic Region.

Facilities like Ahmedabad’s Medicity are being created in Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. The govt has nearly completed developing these facilities. A provision for INR 231 crore for cardiac, kidney, and urology services in Surat, cancer and cardiac services in Rajkot, and cardiac, kidney, and urology services in Bhavnagar has been made.

A provision of INR 44 crore is made for developing gynaecology and paediatric departments, including associated neonatal ICUs, obstetric ICUs, gynaecology ICUs and paediatric surgery departments in Surat and Vadodara. A provision of INR 41 crore for girls’ hostels at nursing colleges in Surat and Jamnagar has also been announced.

The FM made a provision of INR 100 crore for the State Clean Air Programme for Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar and Bharuch-Ankleshwar, alongside the existing Clean Air Programme in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

On issue concerning industries in South Gujarat, a provision of INR 785 crore for ongoing deep-sea projects at Ankleshwar, Sarigam, Vapi and Surat, as well as for new projects in Ahmedabad, Jambusar and Saykha, was made.

Announcing that 55 per cent of the work on the Surat Metro Rail project was complete, the finance minister announced an allocation of INR 2,730 crore for the Surat Metro and Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro. “The provision is made to ensure that citizens can access fast, reliable and modern rail-based public transport services,” Desai added.

For high-speed corridors that have heavy traffic, INR 278 crore has been proposed for the Surat-Sachin-Navsari, Ahmedabad-Dakor, Vadodara-Ektanagar, Rajkot-Bhavnagar, Mehsana-Palanpur and Ankleshwar-Rajpipla routes. For the multi-modal transport hub, INR 185 crore was proposed.

The FM announced that expansion of Surat airport will be undertaken in collaboration with the Centre. An allocation of INR 210 crore has been made for the expansion of Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Porbandar airports, along with the development of a greenfield airport in Dahod.

The FM announced the setting up of modern laboratories for testing food and drugs in Valsad, along with new centres in Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar, Junagadh and Mehsana. For the laboratories, INR 28 crore has been allocated. A provision of INR 198 crore has been made to strengthen cancer treatment facilities. The govt made a provision of INR 528 crore for the improvement and strengthening of 63 roads connecting industrial areas and quarries in the state, including parts of Valsad district.

The govt announced INR 300 crore for the Raw Water Supply Pipeline Project in Navsari on PPP basis in collaboration with the Union textile ministry under PM MITRA Park. A provision of INR 330 crore has been made for door-to-door solid and liquid waste disposal and public space cleaning in 371 villages across 11 talukas of seven districts under Nirmal Gujarat 2.0.