Bhopal, Jul 22 (IANS): Aiming to attract more visitors to Pachmarhi, the only hill station in Madhya Pradesh, the state tourism department has decided to upgrade the existing three-hole golf course there to an 18-hole one.
Notably, the development of the existing golf course would be done under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. It would also be the first golf course in Madhya Pradesh -- aimed to attracting high-end tourists -- to be operated by the state tourism department.
A senior official in the tourism department told IANS that an expression of interest (EoI) to invite private developers will be issued soon.
"We are hoping that it will attract the best private players to complete the work," the official said.
The official said the state government has selected 100 acres of land for this purpose.
"It would be an international-standard golf course to be developled in the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) mode," the official said.
At present, the only 18-hole golf course in Madhya Pradesh, which is located in Bhopal, is an army establishment. Another golf course in Bhopal developed by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) is a nine-hole course.
Apart from these, there are golf courses in Indore, Mhow and Jabalpur districts.
The official said that in the past few years, Pachmarhi has emerged as an important tourist destination, and the golf course will give it further edge.