Agartala, Sep 19 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said that over 5.45 lakh tourists including 75,000 foreigners visited the state last year, while the state government has undertaken ambitious projects to develop all the tourism spots in the state.

Addressing the function after the inauguration of tourism facilities at the Sulma Dongur Tuisoi Waterfall, located in Dhalai district, the Chief Minister said that Tripura has witnessed a significant rise in tourists' footfall over the past few years.

Saha said the state government has obtained a loan of Rs 180 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development of the state's tourism infrastructure.

He announced that like Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala, house boat facilities would be developed on the picturesque Dambur Lake in southern Tripura.

"Earlier, those domestic and foreign tourists used to visit Sikkim, Darjeeling, Meghalaya, and other parts of the northeast region, now they are visiting Tripura where many beautiful tourist spots are still unexplored to the Indian and foreign tourists," the Chief Minister said.

He said that the previous Left Front government never gave priority towards promoting Tripura's tourism, they simply blamed the Central government and neglected the state.

"There are numerous hidden treasures in the state. Since the BJP formed the government (in 2018), we have been exploring these hidden spots. We have also introduced the Tripura Tourism Policy to attract investors, who are indeed showing interest," Manik Saha said.

The Chief Minister said that after former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly became the Brand Ambassador for Tripura Tourism, tourist footfall has increased to a large extent.

Stressing on promoting Tripura tourism on social media, Saha said that the state government is leveraging social media to promote Tripura Tourism and added that more efforts are needed to make Tripura better known to the rest of the world.

He mentioned that under the centrally sponsored 'Swadesh Darshan' scheme, infrastructure is being developed in many tourism spots including Chabimura, Sepahijala, Neer Mahal, Ujjayanta Palace, Dumbur lake and adjoining hills and Unakoti.

"Light and sound shows are being organised regularly highlighting the history of the princely regime at Ujjayanta Palace. It is essential to deal with the tourists from outside Tripura with politeness, ensure their safety, and make them feel happy."

The Chief Minister said that under the Centre's 'Prasad scheme', development is now going on to the Mata Tripura Sundari temple, founded in 1501 by Tripura's erstwhile king Maharaja Dhanya Manikya.

The 523-year-old Tripura Sundari temple in Udaipur, 65 km south of Agartala, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas in the country, and the third such shrine in eastern India after the Kali temple in Kolkata's Kalighat, and the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

On October 15, 1949, Tripura came under the control of the Indian government after a merger agreement was signed between Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi and the then Indian Governor General.

The merger agreement made it mandatory for the Tripura government to continue sponsoring 14 temples in the state, including the Tripura Sundari Temple run by the princely rulers.

/IANS