The mesmerizing Sambhar lake will soon be worth its salt as it is developed into a tourist destination. In a one-of-its-kind arrangement, two Public Sector Undertakings — Hindustan Salts Ltd (HSL) and India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) — will sign an MoU to create tourism infrastructure at Sambhar, India's largest inland salt lake. 

"For ages we have been sitting on a gold mine. Creating tourism facilities in Sambhar would be akin to creating another golden triangle — Jaipur-Sambhar-Ajmer. HSL and Sambhar Salts Ltd are engaged in production/trading of salt and related activities and have a large land bank close to nature with infrastructure of heritage value which can be developed into tourist attractions. ITDC brings to this its expertise in the field of tourism infrastructure," said R K Tandon, CMD HSL. 

The MoU to be signed on Thursday will have a detailed master-plan mapping the tourism infrastructure with another 12 sub-plans. "For this a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will have to be created. While the larger expenditures are likely to be taken care of by the government, we would be advertising for expression of interest for other ventures. The details are still being finetuned," said Tandon. The project that is likely to be kicked off by mid-January would look for private equity partners with ITDC inviting participation through tenders. "Prior to independence the Salt works owned by the company were managed by the British for many years." The old infrastructure developed by them is still available, which includes heritage buildings, old Salt Museum, Circuit House, Rail Tracks, etc," said Tandon. 

Sambhar has also been designated a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance) because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia. SSL — a subsidiary of HSL — has approximately 57,600 acres of land on a 99-year lease from the government of Rajasthan in Sambhar, Nawa and Gudha area, which includes approximately 38,400 acres of Sambhar Lake. 

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