Bhubaneswar:President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa (HRAO) JK Mohanty has requested Union tourism minister Ambika Soni to extend the Mahapari Nirvan Buddhist Special Train to Bhubaneswar.

In a recent letter, Mohanty, while commending the efforts of the Union minister to develop the Buddhist tourism Circuit in Orissa said that on behalf of the people of Orissa and the travel trade the Association expresses its gratitude to you for sanctioning Rs 740 lakh towards Integrated Development of tourism circuit of Langudi – Lalitgiri – Ratnagiri – Udayagiri in Orissa.

Besides, it also expressed its gratitude to Soni for sanctioning Rs 488.50 lakh towards development of Peace Park and Amphitheatre at Dhauli, near Bhubaneswar.

We are sure that these initiatives would attract a large number of Buddhist tourists to Orissa and we are also happy that our chief minister is taking special interest in implementing these projects successfully, added Mohanty.

Stating that the special Buddhist train is covering most of the parts of Bihar, UP and Delhi, he said that although the tourism ministry has invested a huge amount of money for development of the Buddhist Circuit in Orissa, unfortunately the special train does not touch Orissa.

Therefore the investment made by the ministry on this Buddhist sector would be a waste if corrective action is not taken immediately, he said, adding that in view of this the Association has suggested the extension of the special train to Orissa.