Laksha for Dweep: ₹3.6kcr Plan to Turn Islands Tourist Hub
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India has drawn up a ₹3,600-crore-plus infrastructure upgrade plan to develop Lakshadweep islands as a tourist hub with more ports, peripheral roads and beachfront facilities among others, people familiar with the development said.

"Port facilities will be developed at Androth, Kalpeni, and Kadamat islands. Beachfront and peripheral roads will come up at Kadamat Island (East), Agatti Island (East), and Kavaratti Island," a top government official told ET.


Funds for these and other projects will be met out of the Sagarmala scheme for port development, the official said.

 

In all, 13 projects have been identified for the 36 Lakshadweep islands that cover 32 square kilometres, 220-440 km off the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her interim budget speech said, "To address the emerging fervour for domestic tourism, projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands, including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment also."
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Lakshadweep in the first week of January and posted pictures from his trip on social media platform X.

 

Three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory comments about Modi subsequent to the post, inciting a social media outrage with many people calling for a boycott of Maldives and proposing Lakshadweep as an alternative. However, while Lakshadweep boasts of picturesque beaches, coral islands and crystal-clear waters, it lacks adequate infrastructure and facilities to accommodate a lot of tourists.

 

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