Berhampur, Jan. 12: Soon, those interested in rural tourism will be able to access interesting villages in the state with ease, as the state and central governments work together to develop eight villages into tourism hotspots.

Villagers of Ganjam district’s Padmanavpur, one of the eight chosen villages and known for its exquisite handloom saris, are excited because this project would mean more business for them.

The other villages that have been chosen are Raghurajpur (Puri), Khiching (Mayurbhanj), Hirapur (Khurdha), Barpalli (Bargarh), Deulijhar (Angul) and Konark (Puri). Ganjam tourist officer Bijoy Kumar Jena said that the work at Padmanavpur was on in full swing.

Padmanavpur, three kilometre away from Digapahandi, is famous for its handloom cotton saris. The village attracts hundreds of tourists who flock to see and buy the exquisite saris.

Grants given by the Centre and the state are being utilised to provide infrastructure, which includes building a training centre, cafeteria, toilets, drinking water supply and a rest shed for the tourists. A team of experts is redesigning the landscape.

The tourism department had earlier entrusted the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), Ganjam chapter, to develop tourism infrastructure at Padmanavpur. “We handed over the work to the block development officer, Digapahandi. Rs 20.26 lakh has already been spent on building infrastructure in Padmanavpur,” said Jena.

Ganjam collector V. Kartikeya Pandian has stressed providing quality drinking water and sanitation in Padmanavpur village.

The department has signed a contract worth Rs 10 lakh with Bhubaneswar-based Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management to provide software and training to members of the village. In all, 135 members have been selected for training.

S Nilakantham, secretary of the Padmanavpur Weavers Cooperative Society, said that the villagers were excited about the project.

“Since the last two years, tourists have been coming to our village between October and February to buy handloom saris. The Rural Tourism Promotion Project will encourage more tourists to come. More tourists means more business,” he said.

There are 1,000 families in the village. Of these, 135 families belonged to weaver community. There are 189 registered weavers, Nilakantham said. “At present, we sell 50 per cent of our products to the state-run Bayonica. It is difficult to market our products. Earlier, we used to produce dhotis and towels. We have stopped making them since 1990 after power-loom products invaded the market. We are now concentrating only on handloom cotton saris,” he said.