IIM Indore to develop Ayodhya as global tourist hotspot

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Jan 9, 2021

The Indian Institute of Management, Indore (IIM-I) has partnered the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation (AMC) to develop the temple town as a global tourist hub in the backdrop of the construction of a grandiose Lord Ram temple.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the IIM-I and the AMC, the Institute will collaborate with the Ayodhya civic body to replicate the best municipal best practices followed in Indore, which is among the cleanest and best managed urban centres in India.

Besides, the IIM-I will draft a plan for implementation of information, education and communication (IEC) in Ayodhya according to the central government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) programme.

The Institute will conduct training/capacity building programmes for the AMC pertaining to the project management tools. The MoU will be effective for three years, which could be extended with mutual consent.

“We are preparing an action plan along with the AMC to develop Lord Ram’s place Ayodhya as the world’s most beautiful and cleanest pilgrimage centre. In the initial phase, we will focus on the Swachh Bharat Mission and the IEC,” IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai said. He also heads a five member IIM-I team tasked with taking the agenda forward.

The state has also expanded the jurisdiction of the ADA by bringing several new villages in Ayodhya and the adjoining districts under its purview. The Ayodhya airstrip is being developed to handle wide bodied scheduled flights and thus put the town on the national and international tourism map.

On August 5, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ram temple, thus setting the tone for a speedier pace of infra and tourism projects in Ayodhya. The temple project would span nearly 85,000 sq ft and rank among the biggest Hindu temples in the world. It will have a capacity to accommodate 50,000 devotees at a time.

After coming to power in March 2017, the Yogi Adityanath government had renamed Faizabad district as Ayodhya, while upgrading Ayodhya town as a municipal corporation for improving the civic standards and infusing more government funds.

Another mega project proposed by the state is the world’s tallest 221 metres Lord Ram’s bronze statue in Ayodhya. Besides, the government has mooted a ‘New Ayodhya’ township project spanning 500 acres comprising residential enclaves, parks, luxury hotels, shopping arcades etc.