Govt to develop 700 islands for tourism

Many of the over 700 uninhabited islands across India will be developed for tourism, filmmaking, entertainment activities, honeymoon destinations, maritime security, and also for generating non-conventional energy -both wind and solar.

This scheme will be part of the ambitious Sagarmala project. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the concept note and institutional framework to implement this massive project that the Narendra Modi government has revived. The Sagarmala concept was first mooted by Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his last tenure.

"We have a total of 1,208 islands including the uninhabited ones and there are 185 lighthouses. These will be developed as a hub of tourist activity. We will carry out a feasibility study," shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said.