The Maharashtra cabinet chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has approved the Adventure Tourism Policy for the state. The Cabinet’s nod came months after it had approved the Caravan Tourism Policy.

The policy will channelise adventure tourism on land, air and water. Around 25 different adventure activities like trekking, paragliding, water rappelling, river rafting, biking, rock climbing, scuba diving etc. will be covered in the policy.

Adventure being a popular section of tourism and with travellers/tourists developing special interest towards it, having the tourism policy 2016 is the need of the hour. The policy will cover the promotion of adventure activities as well as registration, regulation, monitoring, planning, promotion, training etc. of various adventure event organisers and adventure training organizations.

State tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray said: “Safety being the priority, adventure tourism organizers will need to be vigilant as per the provisions mentioned in the policy regarding the safety of tourists. Norms for trained and experienced trainers, quality, and standardized equipment will be laid down. State level committees and divisional level committees will be constituted for effective implementation of adventure tourism policy. These committees will consist of experts in land, air and water tourism.”

According to the policy, the organisers of adventure tourism in the state will be given a temporary registration certificate from the Directorate of Tourism (DoT) and a final registration certificate after obtaining all the required equipment details and qualifications. Under this policy, the organisers of adventure activities will gain several benefits like refund of SGST, discount in stamp duty, discount in power charges etc.