HP govt clears Naina Devi-Anandpur Sahib ropeway

Pilgrims travelling to Punjab's famous Anandpur Sahib city will now find it much easier to also pay obeisance at Himachal Pradesh's popular Naina Devi temple. A walkway has been proposed to connect the two places, which are barely at an aerial distance of four kilometres away from each other.

This is one of the six new ropeway projects proposed by the Himachal Pradesh government to boost tourism and cut down travelling time in the hill state. On Wednesday, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet cleared the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which the two neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are slated to sign to give the Rs 100 crore ropeway project the go-ahead.

The joint venture project, which Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal had discussed in 2010, was discussed and approved at a meeting held between Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy and his Punjab counterpart last week in Chandigarh.

The lower terminal of the ropeway will be at Rampur village under Punjab's jurisdiction, an intermediate terminal will be at Toba village under Himachal's jurisdiction and the upper terminal will be at Naina Devi. All initial development costs will initially be borne by the respective state governments within their territory, and the project will later be given for bidding and all costs will be recovered from the qualified bidder.

The project will be executed through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis by creating a Special Purpose Vehicle consisting of 10 directors - five from each state. An official from the tourism department said that there would be no subsidy or grant paid. The bidding parameter will be based on revenue-sharing. The project or preliminary expenses will be borne by the states. The sharing of the profits/ returns/ rentals will be in proportion to the investments.

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