Bhubaneswar, Dec. 9: The state government will develop infrastructure at the Gopalpur beach, Tampara lake and on the banks of Chilika lake at Barkul and Satpada.

Announcing this in the Assembly, tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda said the Centre had sanctioned a coastal tourism circuit for the state with an outlay of around Rs 80 crore under its Swadesh Darshan scheme.

The scheme envisages integrated development of various theme-based tourist circuits such as coastal, Himalayan, Buddhist and North East India circuits.

The coastal tourism circuit scheme aims to develop beaches, backwaters, mangrove and cruise tourism. The state has 480km coastline out of the total 7,517km Indian coastline.

The tourism minister said: "The project will help attracting more foreign and domestic tourists to the state."

The state has been trying hard to woo foreign tourists to bolster the tourism sector here as the foreigners' arrival registered a decline last year. The foreign tourist footfall to the state was 71,426 in 2014, which declined to 66,971 last year. Panda said the tourism infrastructure proposed to include water sports complex, jetty for boat ride and floating restaurant.

Official sources said Rs 23.81 crore had been earmarked to upgrade infrastructure at the Gopalpur beach, Rs 33.43 crore for the Tampara lake, Rs 9.87 crore and Rs 5.23 crore for facilities at Barkul and Satpada, respectively.

While provisions will be made for water sports facilities on the Gopalpur beach and a sand art and marine museum will be set up there, the Tampara lake will have water park, jetty for boat ride and eco-cottages. Similarly, there will be jetty for ferry ride and floating restaurant at Brakel and Satpada will have separate jetties for the ferry ride and speed boats. All these places will be lighted through solar power.

"Despite having a coastline of 480km, coastal tourism in the state is still at a nascent stage. The tourists from other states and countries have limited knowledge about the potential of coastal tourism in the state. If the coastal tourist circuit is developed, it will be immensely helpful in attracting tourists to the state," said Sharat Chandra Mishra, 35, tour and travel operator.