Ahmedabad, 14 May 2013

Senior Congress Minister Ghulam in Jammu & Kashmir Mr. Ahmad Mir on Monday praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for making his state a prominent destination on the tourism map of India.

Speaking at the State Tourism Advisory Committee meeting convened by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here to discuss promotion of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir, Mir said, “Modi has brought the desert of Gujarat on the tourism map of India in a big way”.

Senior officials from Tourism and other departments and Kashmir based tour operators participated in the meeting.

A tour operator quoting Mir in the meeting said Modi has increased tourism budget of Gujarat manifold.

“Modi has planned tourism in a way that huge investments are coming to Gujarat and also massive infrastructure development is taking place there,” the operator quoted Mir. “The Minister praised the development model followed by Gujarat.”

Talking to J&K based news organization Greater Kashmir later, Mir said, “There was nothing wrong in it (appreciating Modi on his tourism plans).”

He said in fact JK should follow the Single Window Clearance System adopted by Gujarat to set up mega tourism projects.

Modi, Mir said, had planned tourism development in such a way where he “dovetails investors coming to Gujarat with massive infrastructure development”.

Mir was on a visit to Gujarat last month in connection with a program to promote JK tourism in Gujarat.