Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MDTC) has now lined up Rs 60 crore for promoting tourism in Vidharbha region. This includes Rs 10 crore for developing adventure tourism at Khindsi lake in Ramtek. MTDC will be spending Rs 50 crore on eco-tourism, of which Rs 37 crore will come from the central government, said its managing director Dr Jagdish Patil, during the session on 'Regional tourism: Strategies for growth' in Advantage Vidarbha meet.

"MTDC will be developing 35 centres under Buddhist circuit that includes excavations at Mansar near Ramtek. However, there are certain issues with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as of now. They are being sorted out," Patil added. 

The state's principal secretary (forests) Pravin Pardesi said the department had opened 20 colonial bungalows to the public. So far, they were used exclusively by officers. A private person wanting to stay there needed a recommendation from the principal secretary's office or a local MLA or MP. Now the bookings can be done online through MTDC website. These include a bungalow at Chikhaldara and another property at Melghat where the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had stayed as per a TOI report.

Pardesi said forest department was also focusing on sharing the proceeds of forest tourism with locals. This has happened in Vidarbha and will help reduce opposition to declaring new areas as wildlife parks. The officer contested the theory that tourists resorts near forests hamper conservation. "In fact, presence of tourists helped preserving the wildlife by hospitality players as their earnings depend on that. Earnings from the region's forest are far less compared to their counterparts in Africa," he said.

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