The Punjab Cabinet, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, on Thursday gave approval for setting up a ropeway between Sri Anandpur Sahib and Naina Devi in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode to further promote tourism in the state.

The ropeway would facilitate lakhs of devotees visiting these two historic and religious sites in a smooth and hassle-free manner, according to an official spokesperson. Sri Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh were famous pilgrim destinations visited by devotees from across the globe.

The two shrines were located quite far from each other, with hilly terrain compounding the problems of the devotees, the cabinet noted. The Punjab Government, with the consent of HP, had thus decided to set up the Ropeway project to ease the travel of visitors, said the spokesperson.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the governments of Punjab and HP to set up the Ropeway between Sri Anandpur Sahib and Naina Devi ji on 26 July, 2012.

The Punjab Tourism Department had acquired 108 Kanal 13 Marla land for setting up a lower terminal and right of way within the Punjab territory for this purpose. However, the MoU was cancelled by the HP government on June 3, 2014.

In February, 2018, a letter from HP CM was received to revive the project, following which Punjab CM conveyed his consent to HP. Subsequently, the Punjab Tourism Department received the approved MoU from the Government of HP on 5 September.

It is proposed to carry out this project in PPP mode by setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The total paid up equity of SPV will be Rs One crore, with Rs 50 lakhs each as share of the two states. As per the MoU, both states will have equal share in the revenue, with concession period of 40 years.

In the initial 7 years, no concession fee would be paid by the concessionaire and a time period of 3 years would be given to set up this project, said the spokesperson.

The Punjab Cabinet also ratified the agreement signed on September 8 between the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir for immediate resumption of work on the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project. The Punjab Cabinet decided to transfer certain land pieces belonging to the state government to the Union ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the AIIMS project at Bathinda.