Hyderabad is now looking at winning itself the 'adventure sports capital of India' tag. For the same, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) in its recently launched new Tourism Policy has introduced special concessions for such ventures, hoping to see an array of water, beach and indoor sporting sites come up in the city and other parts of the state with a water front. Officials of the state tourism department claim that a dozen of such proposals are already under consideration.

According to a report , as per the policy, the development of Adventure Tourism locations will be given an additional Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) of five per cent over other private ventures. Concession in allotment of land, exemption from government taxes and assistance in procuring permissions/clearances from statutory bodies for the venture are the other benefits that would be extended to these projects. Apart from Adventure Tourism, Ecotourism, Rural Tourism and projects in and around beaches and water bodies in cities such as Visakhapatnam will also be extended similar incentives.

Jayesh Ranjan, Managing Director, APTDC said, "We want to encourage such ventures to come up especially in Hyderabad and have, therefore, listed them under 'priority areas' in the policy. One such project that is in the proposal stage is an indoor sporting zone. If the proposal materialises, it would be the first such venture in the country. The project, designed as per international standards, is likely to come up in the Lower Tank Bund area. Apart from attracting more domestic tourists, developing such sporting locations is also aimed at increasing foreign tourists' footfall, which has taken a severe beating over the last one year."

Globe-trotters are not the only ones on the state tourism department's radar. As per the new policy, the state tourism department also hopes to reach out to the 'aam aadmi'. "We want to develop more dormitory-type accommodations, cheap transport and economical packages for the lower income group of society or even students who travel on shoe-string budgets," added Ranjan.