Before the gates of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya were opened to the public for the first time on January 23, thousands of devotees began gathering as early as 3 am braving the winter chill.
With a high footfall of pilgrims expected in the coming days, Ayodhya is all set to become a thriving tourist hub. According to a recent report by brokerage firm Jefferies, the temple town could attract over 50 million tourists per year.
A US $10 billion makeover (new airport, revamped railway station, township, improved road connectivity etc) will likely drive a multiplier effect with new hotels and other economic activities. It can also set a template for infra-driven growth for tourism,” the brokerage said in a note on January 21.
The ?850 billion or $10 billion shall transform the ancient city into a global religious and spiritual tourist hotspot, the brokerage noted and also pointed out that the new Ram temple comes up at the cost of ?18 billion or $225 million.
From real estate developers to hotel owners, airlines to corporations, all eyes are set on the town in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This means more jobs for locals and more revenue for the state.
Jefferies also highlighted that religious tourism is still the biggest segment of tourism in India. Several popular religious centres attract annual tourist traffic of 10-30 million despite the existing infrastructural bottlenecks. Hence, the creation of a new religious tourist centre (Ayodhya) with improved connectivity and infrastructure can create a meaningfully large economic impact, it said.
Gaurav Dayal, the divisional commissioner of Ayodhya, said that 102 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth around Rs 18,000 crore were signed during the Global Investors Summit for Ayodhya tourism, reported Business Standard.
