West Bengal will hold a tourism investment summit on September 27, with the state government announcing infrastructure plans that include a Rs 57 crore upgrade of Mirik Lake, a new trekking route from Tinchuley to Milan Top and new visitor facilities in Jhargram.
Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh said on Friday that the summit would be held at a hotel in Kolkata to mark World Tourism Day. Investors from West Bengal and outside the state are expected to attend, with the government seeking large investments in the tourism sector and additional employment opportunities.
“The tourism department is organising a summit on September 27, World Tourism Day. Investors from the state and outside will attend. We hope they will make large investments,” Ghosh said, according to Anandabazar.
The tourism department has asked district magistrates to submit the names of tourism destinations in their respective districts. The government has also identified a list of locations that it plans to prioritise, covering destinations from Mirik and Chandannagar to Bishnupur and several religious sites.
The Mirik project is one of the largest financial commitments announced in the plan. The government has allocated Rs 57 crore for the development and renovation of infrastructure around Mirik Lake. A cafeteria is also planned at the lake, although the announcement did not provide details of the implementation schedule, procurement process or operating agency.
In the Darjeeling hills, the state plans to create a new trekking route connecting Tinchuley and Milan Top. The proposal is aimed at expanding the tourism circuit beyond established destinations, but the government has not yet disclosed the route length, construction timeline, environmental conditions or arrangements for maintaining the trail.
Jhargram is also included in the infrastructure plans. The government has proposed facilities related to waterfalls and boating in the district. Separately, it is preparing river-based travel facilities connecting important pilgrimage centres and tourist destinations along the Ganga.
The announcements place tourism infrastructure at the centre of the state’s strategy to attract private investment and generate jobs. They also bring several different types of public responsibility into the plan, including lake restoration, trail construction, visitor amenities, boating facilities and river transport. The source report did not specify the total investment sought at the summit or identify individual private or public project partners.
Ghosh said West Bengal’s tourism department could eventually compete with other major departments in revenue collection. He also criticised the previous Trinamool Congress government, saying the state’s tourism potential had not been adequately pursued earlier. The upcoming summit and the district-level project identification exercise are the next stated steps in the government’s tourism programme.
