In a sign of fast-returning to normalcy in Kashmir, the government is planning a Disneyland-type amusement park in Srinagar, which will spread over 100 acres.
This comes days after the foundation stone of J&K’s first FDI-project, the ‘Mall of Srinagar’ by Emaar was laid. Srinagar had last year got its first multiplex too, an INOX, and News18 had earlier reported about plans for a giant ferris wheel in Dal Lake.
News18 now has a document dated March 16 that says the J&K government wants to hire an international renowned consultancy firm to advice it for development of a theme amusement part in Srinagar. It says the consultant will do a tour of theme parks managed globally by the likes of Disney, Universal and Ramoji, and study the best practices.
The vision behind this is “to catalyse growth in tourism sector and attract tourists from across the globe,” the document says. The site is expected to be the prime location of 100 acres in Srinagar’s Tattoo Ground. J&K Directorate of Industries and Commerce will undertake the project and may set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for it.
The Consultant’s Brief
The document says the selected consultant in order to gather an understanding of the best practices being adopted by the theme parks across national as well as the global level would prepare a ‘Theme Park Benchmarking Study Report’. For preparing this report, references may be taken from the global and national theme parks.
“It includes Global theme parks like Universal Orlando Resort, Busch Gardens Theme Park, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Dorney Park & Wild Water Kingdom, Six Flags Mexico, Atlantis Paradise Island Resort- Bahamas, Mt. Olympus Water Park and Theme Park Resort, Universal Studio Singapore, Sentosa Skyline Luge & Skyride,” the document says. It also cites National theme parks for reference in the consultancy study like the Adlabs Imagica in Maharashtra, Kingdom of Dreams-Gurgaon, Wonderla Bangalore, Ramoji Film City and EsselWorld and Water Kingdom in Mumbai.
“To undertake this exercise and prepare a comprehensive study report a team comprising of government officials and a team of three consultants would visit two global and two national theme parks,” the document says. The selected consultant will also prepare a project promotion plan and formulate a strategy for the promotion of the theme park among the targeted tourists and facilitate the investment promotion activities in reaching out to investors globally.
The study will look at the type of management model, types of rides, tentative cost, investment and income generation, targeted footfall, mode of development of theme park and the commercial viability. The government will dwell on the private-public partnership mode.
The Tattoo Ground
The J&K government had been earlier building a ‘Citizen Park’ at the Tattoo Ground in Batamaloo area, which had been under the possession of the Indian Army for several years. Former J&K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 2015 laid the foundation of the ‘Citizen Park’ over 17 acres after the Army vacated a part of the area. Her daughter and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti last year asked the J&K administration to use Tattoo Ground for construction of a cancer hospital and playground.
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