THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
In a major boost to Kerala’s stakeholder-friendly Caravan Tourism project ‘Keravan Kerala’, the state’s investment promotion agency Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has come out with an attractive scheme to provide loans up to Rs. five crore to purchase tourist caravans and set up caravan parks.
Under the scheme, an enterprise is entitled to get a loan of up to Rs. 1 crore per caravan, or 70 per cent of the cost, for buying up to five vehicles. The range of loan is from Rs. 50 Lakhs to Rs. 1 crore per vehicle. The loans will be available only to buy new vehicles.
The interest is pegged at 8.75 per cent (floating) with a 0.5 per cent rebate for prompt repayment. The loan should be repaid in 84 months after a twelve-month moratorium period.
The enterprises eligible for the loan are existing resorts/resort groups (firms, LLP and Limited Companies), fleet owners and tour operators and repatriates.
The Caravan Tourism policy, announced by Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas in September this year, has generated tremendous response from the industry since its online registration process began a month back.
“Keravan Kerala is going to be an initiative that redefines tourism in the state. The response to the policy within a short span of its announcement has been encouraging. As the Government’s nodal agency for industrial and investment promotion, KSIDC sees it as a highly rewarding investment avenue for entrepreneurs”, said MG Rajamanickam, Managing Director, KSIDC.
“The KSIDC scheme will provide an added thrust to the project, which is set to take off soon. It also reflects on how various government departments and agencies are working in tandem for the success of this novel initiative that is going to be a key component in the post-pandemic revival of tourism in Kerala”, said V R Krishna Teja, Director – Tourism.
The policy offers attractive incentives for the investors. The two components of the initiative are caravan operation and setting up caravan parks across the state, for which clear-cut procedures and protocols have been laid down to ensure a pleasant experience for visitors.
Under the policy, the first 100 caravans will get to a subsidy of Rs 7.50 lakh or 15 per cent of the cost. The next 100 vehicles will get Rs 5 lakh or 10 per cent of the cost. For 201 to 300 it will be Rs 2.50 lakh or 5 per cent of the cost. The subsidy will be available for five caravans for an individual investor or a group, for three years.
Within a short span, the project has also elicited keen interest from auto majors, top travel and hospitality players, local self-government institutions and service providers down to the grass roots.
Further details of the scheme can be accessed by logging onto https://www.ksidc.org/projectfinancing/caravan-caravan-parks/ or by calling 0471 2318922 or 0484 2323010.
