Tag Archives: Haryana

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister, Civil Aviation, met Manohar Lal Khattar, CM, Haryana, recently and discussed many aviation related issues. After the meeting Scindia revealed that a heli-hub would be developed in Gurugram. Khattar further announced that the Haryana government has decided to reduce value added tax (VAT) rate on sale of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to 1% from 20%.

G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister, Tourism & Culture, met with ML Khattar, CM, Haryana, where they discussed several matters pertaining to the overall development of tourism in the state & propagation of its cultural heritage. Also, he met Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Minister of Tourism, Manipur, and deliberated on key issues in improving tourism in the state of Manipur.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism and Manohar Lal Khattar, CM, Haryana held a meeting for the development of tourism related projects in the state and to speed up the ongoing projects in the state. The way forward was discussed with special focus on Development of Rakhigarhi and Kurukshetra and science museums apart from other cultural and tourism hubs development.   Secretary, GoI, Tourism Shri Arvind Singh , joint secretaries of Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture and  other senior officers of Central and State government were also present during the meeting. During the meeting, the state government gave details of the proposed Krishna Circuit Project-II. Development of tourist infrastructure at important tourist/pilgrim places related to SrimadBhagwad Geeta & Mahabharata at Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Karnal, Panipat and Mewat under the Krishna circuit phase-II of Swadesh Darshan Scheme is planned under this project. Apart from this, the two sides discussed Heritage Circuit Rewari, virtual museum at Jyotisar near Kurukshetra and development of Pinjore Gardens, MorniHills , science city among others.The progress of ongoing PRASHAD projects at Nada Sahib Gurudwara and Mata Mansa Devi were also reviewed by ShPrahald Singh Patel and the state government was asked to speed up the completion.

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) concluded its first online members’ meet on March 31, which was attended by close to 100 members from across the country, including Kerala, Assam, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The meeting, moderated by Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI and Vinayak Koul, Hony. Secretary, ATOAI, helped members and the Association share constructive ideas to survive in present times. Members also got a chance to share their experiences. The keynote speaker for the meeting, Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH, briefed members on various topics related to the COVID-19 crisis and explained that the strategy going forward should broadly be divided in two phases – phase-I being survival and phase-II being revival. He also informed members about the various efforts of FAITH for the tourism industry.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) has inaugurated its Punjab and Haryana Chapter today. Manmeet Singh, Proprietor, Sky High Tours and Travels is the new chapter chairperson, as informed by P P Khanna, President, ADTOI. In total, the chapter will comprise 20 active members and also expects another 15 to 20 members. Delhi-NCR is not going to be included in the chapter. This is exclusively for the Haryana segment. The chapter is going to get launched exclusively for the places left unexplored. It will encourage rural, village, agro based areas of the state and make people aware about unexplored places. The association will work with the government and local state tourism boards to promote these places. Khanna also plans to open the North East chapter to showcase the rural and tribal areas and promote them before the country.

The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) plans to inaugurate its Haryana and Punjab Chapter soon. This was informed by P P Khanna, President, ADTOI at the associations’s General House Meeting, recently conducted in Delhi. Giving a recap of the activities undertaken by the association in the last year, Khanna said, “We launched our revamped website in February 2018 which is linked with the website of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. This will prove beneficial for the members of the association for their future business prospects. We will also launch our Chapters in Haryana and Punjab which will further enhance the growth of ADTOI. We have also launched an activity manual for 2018 for the reference of members. Thus, members can plan well in advance for all association events that shall be conducted throughout the year.”

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has now made it mandatory for travel agents to mention their registration number in advertisements. Justice AB Chaudhari has directed Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to make it compulsory for travel agents to mention their registration number in any advertisement that is being issued by them in any medium, whether it is in the electronic or print media. Even insertions in newspapers or pamphlets and posters on walls or vehicles will need to include this number. Justice Chaudhari also made it clear that the publisher would have to verify and retain the registration certificate’s copy. The move comes after incidences of travel agents, not registered or licensed by the government, taking money and sending people abroad were reported. Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have been asked to initiate action against TV channels and advertisers in case the advertisements broadcast are not by registered agents. The Judge has also directed these three states to issue immediate instructions to district magistrates to publish “a list of registered agents and to warn the citizens not to go to unauthorised agents”. The list is required to be made public on a regular basis.

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned projects worth over Rs 203 cr for Uttar Pradesh alone for the development of Ramayana and Krishna circuit in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. Under the Ramyana Circuit, the sites of Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) have been included. The Krishna Circuit involves the sites of Dwarka (Gujarat); Nathdwara, Jaipur & Sikar (Rajasthan); Kurukshetra (Haryana), Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Barsana, Nandgaon & Govardhan (Uttar Pradesh) and Puri (Odisha). The projects sanctioned under the scheme have a gestation period of 18-36 months and are subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable Detailed Project Reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilisation of funds released earlier. No proposal has been received in the Ministry for the development of Sita Circuit. The Ministry also has the PRASHAD scheme (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) for holistic development of identified pilgrimage destinations in the country. Under the scheme, 25 sites have been identified for development.

Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, has said that the members of IATO are unhappy with the transport tax hike by the Transport Department of Haryana Government in the state. Addressing the monthly luncheon meeting of IATO, he said, “The transport tax in Haryana has been increased by 1700% from April 1, 2017. He said that while the government has increased this tax after four years, but such a steep hike is unacceptable. We will be meeting the Haryana Chief Minister as well as the Union Finance Minister to request them to implement any increase gradually.” Starting April 1, commercial vehicles entering Haryana would have to pay Rs. 3000.

After launching its Rajasthan chapter, ADTOI is all set to launch its Punjab and Haryana chapter in the first week of March, revealed P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI. While more new chapters are on cards, Khanna revealed that the biggest concern for them right now is service tax and help its members sail through this crisis.