BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Government will invest `70 crore for expansion of tourism infrastructure during the current fiscal which would create employment opportunities in the sector, Minister for Tourism and Culture Ashok Chandra Panda said here on Monday.
Inaugurating the ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’, a Central Government programme aimed at capacity building in tourism and hospitality sector, at the School of Hotel Management (SHM) under the SOA University here, Panda said the Government is planning to set up a chain of 15 restaurants in PPP mode along the National Highways in the State.
The Government, he said, is focused on creating direct and indirect employment opportunities in the tourism sector as it has huge potential.
The SHM, which offers several courses, has already trained four batches of trainees under the Hunar Se Rojgar Tak scheme in collaboration with the State Government.
The institute has been sanctioned 200 seats, the highest in the State, under the scheme this year.
The trainees will undergo an eight-week full time course in bakery and patisserie, eight-week full time course in food production and a six-week full time programme in food and beverage services.
Registrar of the University Prof BB Pradhan and Dean of SHM Dr Sitikantha Mishra also spoke.