‘New Mahabaleshwar’ project is yet again on the radar of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) for developing the Mahabaleshwar site. MTDC has started working on the project to replicate the existing hill station of Mahabaleshwar in Satara district. In early 2000, MTDC informed that it was planning to invest around Rs 1,000 crore for the development of the new project, which is spread across 6000 hectares of land. The new project will extend its current base (Mahabaleshwar) to Koyna Dam. After completing the feasibility study on the upcoming site, MTDC is currently going ahead with the development of ‘New Mahabaleshwar’ project, which will be near the existing hill station of Mahabaleshwar.
According to Vijay Chavan, General Manager, MTDC, “Existing Mahabaleshwar is no more a summer destination, but is becoming a round the year destination. It is most popular among the travellers in Maharashtra and is one of the preferred hill stations for short haul markets like Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, etc.” The reason behind the development of new site is due to over saturation of the current site. |