Budget 2024: FM Sitharaman announces projects for tourism infra on islands including Lakshadweep

Budget 2024: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Interim Budget 2024 said that projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken on Indian islands including Lakshadweep to address zeal for domestic tourism. 

“To address fervor for domestic tourism, projects for port connectivity, tourism infra, and amenities will be taken on our islands including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment also,” said Sitharaman in her budget speech today. 

“Our economic strength has made the country an attractive destination for business and conference tourism. Our middle class also now aspires to travel and explore. Tourism, including spiritual tourism, has tremendous opportunities for local entrepreneurship," she added. 

Also Read: Live updates on Budget 2024

The announcement came amid an ongoing political row with the Maldives over the derogatory remarks by some Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the first week of January, PM Modi visited Lakshadweep and shared a couple of pictures, showing the "stunning beauty of its islands".

However, a few political leaders of the Maldives saw it as an attempt to project the Union Territory as an alternative tourist destination or a “competition" to the Maldives. They reportedly used "derogatory" remarks against PM Modi.

In reaction to Maldivian politician's comments, "Boycott Maldives" trended on social media. Amid the row, the Maldives' former deputy speaker Eva Abdulla said she wanted to apologise for the remarks and urged Indians to keep coming to the island nation.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had earlier also said that globalization has been weaponized, designating currency, trade, and tourism as "weapons."

While acknowledging the positive outcomes of globalization, he highlighted its negative side, emphasizing the concentration of economic power in a few regions, upon which much of the world depends.

"When I spoke about globalization and concentration a different challenge emerging out of that is how globalization itself has been weaponized that today currency is a weapon, trade is a weapon, tourism is a weapon…," he said.