Bollywood star Sanjay Khan has been given the green light by the Indian government to build a RS10bn (US$162m, €127.5m, £99.7m) theme park in Agra, as part of an ongoing initiative to open 20 similar parks across the country to boost tourism.
As part of the development, the state government has already issued land acquisition notices from farmers to build the theme park at a cost of RS5.9bn (US$95.7m, €75.3m, £58.9m) for land purchases.
The proposed park will be made up of seven different sections depicting different time periods through Indian history, spanning the ancient to the modern era, with each period having its own arrangement of cities, markets and buildings from that time.
Visitors to the park will be able to explore each city, with actors portraying the people of the time. Each city will be connected via a monorail, which will deliver visitors to each unique location. Also included will be a luxury hotel, area for themed weddings and receptions, a convention centre and an area for filmmakers to shoot movies.
The state government has expressed optimism that the park, located in a popular tourist area for India, will attract good numbers of visitors and help to further boost tourism in the area. The authority also said that it was considering improving transport links around the attraction from Delhi through Yamuna Expressway and to Lucknow through Lucknow-Agra Green Expressway.
In June the Indian government announced plans to set up 20 “tourism parks” in the country over the course of the next five years based on the concept of Sentosa Island in Singapore. Each park – such as Khan’s new historical theme park – will include a hotel, convention centre, food street and entertainment and amusement facilities.
