Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today chaired the first meeting of the recently constituted Tourism Investment Promotion Council, formed to facilitate projects involving an investment of over Rs. 50 crore in the tourism sector. He directed the officers of seven concerned departments to ensure that all such proposals are processed within 30 days. He emphasized the need to streamline approvals in order to encourage investment in tourism sector, which he described as the mainstay of Himachal Pradesh’s economy, providing livelihood opportunities to thousands of families.
Shri Sukhu said that the State Government was committed to promote tourism by simplifying and digitizing the approval process for new projects. For the time being, departments may function offline, but a fully digital system will be introduced shortly. He further directed that a common checklist be prepared for investors, with all queries raised only once to avoid delays and hurdles.
The Chief Minister reiterated that Himachal Pradesh is an investment-friendly State with immense natural beauty and several reputed companies have shown their interest to invest in the State. The Government, he said, would extend all possible support to investors in establishing their ventures.
HPTDC Chairman Raghubir Singh Bali, Advisor (Infrastructure) Anil Kapil, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Additional Chief Secretary K.K. Pant, Secretary to Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Director (Tourism) Vivek Bhatia, PCCF (HoFF) Sanjay Sood along with other senior officers were present in the meeting.