Bengal proposes Buddhist trail to attract foreign tourists

West Bengal govt has initiated steps to develop the state`s tourism infrastructure including a proposal to the Centre to develop a `Buddhist Trail`.

Kolkata: In an effort to attract foreign tourists in the state, the West Bengal government has initiated steps to develop the state`s tourism infrastructure including a proposal to the Centre to develop a `Buddhist Trail`. State Tourism Secretary Bikram Sen said yesterday that a detailed tourism map was being prepared by the state government to exploit the state`s tourism potential. The state has submitted a proposal to the Centre for its approval to develop a `Buddhist Trail` covering the places of interest for the Buddhists in states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim, Sen said. "The project needs support from the Railways to develop the circuit covering Kolkata, Gorakhpur, Lumbini, Koshinagar, Srabasti, Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Bakhtiarpur, Rumtek Monastery and New Jalpaiguri," Sen said. The proposal included, among other things, a 10-day trip to cover this circuit by a state-of-the-art train like `Palace on Wheels` twice a month. The state government was also planning to develop a 250-bed star hotel over a 5.5 acre plot of land in the Darjeeling hills either in Public Private Partnership (PPP) model or by the state government itself to attract foreign tourists, Sen said. PTI