Travel News, March, 2007

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Siliguri turning into a tourist hub
by Pallab Basu

          Siliguri ( West Bengal ): Siliguri, known for its tea plantation, is becoming a tourist hub. Tea traders from Russia have expressed interest in the region for business investment purposes. The four-member Russian delegation from Russian Financial and Economic Institute and All Russian Distance Institute of Financial and Economies interacted with the local tea planters to have a basic know-how about land availability and rates. Besides investing in tea gardens, the Russians have shown interest in supplementing the tourism in this region of Himalayan foothills. "The Russian delegation which has visited the area along with the North Bengal University officials has primarily come for tea and tourism. Their main interest is tourism and in connection with that they have visited many tea gardens including Rohini Tea Estates, where they are interested in setting up tourism hubs and are planning to invest a huge sum of money ,provided land is available. It appears that they are interested in investing in tea production and may buy tea estates both for production and tourism," said S K Saria, Chairman, Siliguri Tea Auction Centre. Reportedly, Russia will import Darjeeling tea and upgrade it with modern technology, in the years to come. Annual export of Indian tea to Russia was around 80 million kilograms in the recent past.

          Darjeeling tea, which is a geographical indicator under World Trade Organisation regime, touched a record level production of 970 million kilograms (mkg) in 2006. Siliguri is described as the gateway to the Northeast of India. The strategic location of the city makes it a base for essential supplies to the region. Siliguri has gradually developed as a profitable centre for a variety of businesses. As a central hub, many national companies and organisations have set up their offices here. Recently a number of movie-multiplexes are being planned to be opened in Siliguri. It is also the transit point for air, road and rail traffic to the neighbouring countries of Nepal , Bhutan and Bangladesh . The town hosts over 500,000 domestic and 15,000 foreign visitors annually. Siliguri is situated in Darjeeling district, and though it is the district's largest city, the district headquarters is located at Darjeeling . It is situated at the base of the Himalaya Mountains in the plains. It is the largest city in the area ( North Bengal ) and 4th largest city in West Bengal and connects the hill station towns of Gangtok, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Darjeeling with the rest of India . The Mahananda River flows past Siliguri. Siliguri has three main seasons summer, winter and monsoon. And, the climate is suitable for growing tea and the surrounding region has many tea gardens.
-March 3,  2007