Delegates attending the inaugural session on water conservation at the annual caucus of overseas Indians here were surprised to find that the chief guest was Indian Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai.
That was no mistake. Although the minister did make the perfunctory tourism promotion statements, he also stressed that India's new policy would be equally intended to ensure that tourists do not squander the country's precious water resources.
He urged the Indian diaspora gathered here for the annual event known as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) to build hotels that would focus on water conservation in equal measure as guest comfort.
Under India's 12th five-year plan, tourism has been declared a poverty-alleviating sector that can contribute significantly to the economic progress of rural areas and create jobs, especially for women. The country is targeting another five million visitors over the next few years, which it hopes will create 25 million jobs.
But tourists, and hotels, are major water-guzzlers in a country whose large population of 1.21 billion and rapid economic development is also putting huge pressure on scarce water resources.
The country is heavily dependent on the annual monsoon but precipitation is uneven both geographically and temporally. Delegates were surprised to learn that Cherapunji, the northeast hill region said to be world's wettest, actually gets most of the rain in only a four-month period and for the rest of the year suffers from a water shortage.
A theme paper distributed at the session said that India is the world's largest user of groundwater, with an estimated usage of 230 cubic metres per year, more than a quarter of the world's total. Hotels and hospitals also draw heavily on groundwater.
The paper added: "With more than 60% of irrigated agriculture and 85% of drinking water suppliers dependent on it, groundwater is a vital resource for rural areas in India. Reliance of urban and industrial waste supplies on groundwater is also becoming increasingly significant."
Massive efforts are under way nationwide to conserve, recycle and store water through such measures as rainwater harvesting and storage.
One of the speakers at the session said hotels could even seriously consider providing buckets in the rooms for those guests who are truly serious about saving water.
He said phenemonal amounts of water gets wasted by guests leaving the water faucets on while shaving or brushing their teeth or standing for minutes on end in the shower. Giving them the option of filling up water-buckets and using only as much as they need could save millions of litres a year.
Alongside the environmental message, however, the tourism promotion efforts continue, with the Indian diaspora seen as a major source for investments. Tourism Ministry officials are going out of their way to stress the economic viability of tourism, accompanied by incentives to attract funds, guidance to cut through the red-tape and pitfalls to watch out for.
Indeed, tourism was discussed at its own independent session on the opening of the PBD, along with other sectors such as water, energy, health and education, a clear indication of the priority being given to the subject.
Mr Sanjay Kothari, Joint Additional Secretary of the Ministry said that one proposal being considered is to set up tourism promotion forums in several cities abroad, to be chaired by the respective Indian ambassadors and involving all those in the industry who are linked to India, including tour operators and airlines.
The Indian Tourism Development Corporation, a government-owned unit that owns hotels and a tour unit, is also being restructured into a consulting arm that will offer advice to investors on project development, along with marketing assistance.
It will act as a facilitator for the project and use its experience to help investors with viable business plans with site selection, site construction, infrastructure and manpower solutions.
Mr Kothari said that one of the major problems in India is land availability for new projects. However, he said that the government, through its various state enterprises and the state governments themselves, is also the largest land-owner.
He said the central government was offering incentives for conversion of land into commercial opportunities. For example, the land around bus stations is being offered to prospective investors in budget hotels with incentives of India rupees 200,000 per room.
Human resources availability will also be key, especially in the rural areas. One key target is to provide jobs for underprivileged young people, especially those in the rural areas who did not get a chance to complete their education.
A new scheme known as "Hunar Se Rozgar" has been created to provide jobs for youths aged 18-28 who have finished at least until 8th class to get training and other benefits that may help them get jobs in tourism.
India's tourism development is now being driven by both economic and political agendas, Mr Kothari said.
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