Gandhinagar: A fifth meeting of the Island Development Authority of the Gujarat government was held today. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Gujarat has a 1600 km long coastline, the longest among any coastal state of India. Gujarat has more than 144 islands. The State government has formed the Island Development Authority in accordance with the Island Development Policy of the Government of India. The authority aims to encourage economic, social, and tourism activities on the islands while ensuring national security.

In the earlier board meeting of IDA, two islands namely Bet Dwarka and Shiyalbet were selected for their development as tourism hotspots. In-principle approval was given for allotment of budget from Rs. 2077 crore total budget of Tourism department.

Chief Secretary Raj Kumar suggested setting up an Area Development Authority for the Dwarka corridor development project. DeshGujarat