Amaravati, March 6 Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister K Durgesh said on Friday that the government is ready to provide cooperation for the establishment of international theme parks in the state.
Responding to Prathipadu MLA B Ramanjaneyulu in the Assembly regarding the possibility of setting up a Disney World-like project on 171 acres in Kurnoothala village in the Guntur district, the Tourism Minister observed that projects of Disney World and Universal Studios scale require an investment of up to Rs 60,000 crore.
"The government will provide cooperation for the establishment of international amusement and theme parks," said Durgesh, adding that such large projects around the world are established by private players while the government limits itself to allocating land, incentives, and permits.
According to the Minister, the average expenditure of tourists in India is only around Rs 21,000 now, which is lower than international trends.
Observing that Disney World and Universal Studios-like amusement parks operate in places like Orlando, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris, and others, he said their establishment is based on a demand and supply mechanism.
He said such parks were built in those countries because there was scope to get a return on those investments, noting that for such parks to arrive in India, tourist footfall and their ability to spend should be there.
Regarding discussions with Imagicaa and Wonderla, which operate Disney World-type parks in Indian cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, the Minister said they expressed interest in Tirupati and Visakhapatnam.
To attract amusement park investments, Durgesh said the southern state's tourism department attended several international and national trade fairs and expos.
Aiming to develop tourism, Durgesh noted that the government accorded industry status to this sector, along with a host of other incentives.
In the recent CII Partnership Summit in Vizag, he said the Tourism Department inked 102 deals worth Rs 18,448 crore, which also included three theme parks.
