Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday approved the master plan of Amritsar at a meeting of Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Board.

?Amritsar has the potential to emerge as a tourist hub if we able to prolong the stay of tourists coming to the city by a few days and attract more international tourists,?Badal told FE after the board meeting.

The board approved development of the historic Town Hall. Offices in Town Hall will be shifted to an alternate location and the area would be developed by the tourism department in association with Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).

Under the new master plan, international airport at Raja Sansi would be upgraded with ultra-modern facilities, both for passenger and cargo flights. Besides, efforts were afoot to develop Amritsar as a hub of international trade with the proposal to establish a dry port on GT road at Attari border.

Ahmedabad-based Sai Consulting Engineers was entrusted with the task of preparing a master plan of Amritsar with the Local planning Area (LPA) of 1394.19 sq km in view of the future requirements of population by 2031.

The projected population for the Amritsar local planning area was placed at nearly 30 lakh in 2031 from 16.10 lakh in 2010, whereas for the Amritsar Metropolis it has been worked out as 20 lakh. The master plan has covered the adjoining towns of Jandiala, Rayya, Raja Sansi and Majitha, while it has already covered Verka, Amritsar Cantt and Cheartta in addition to 310 rural settlements.

Sai Consulting Engineers will prepare the master plan of six cities ? Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot, of which master plan of Amritsar has been cleared while others are under an advance stage of finalisation.

To boost industrialisation and economic growth of the Amritsar region in a big way, the master plan had also incorporated three major industrial pockets over an area of 8,000 acre to be developed along with the roads of Tarn Taran, Majitha and Mehta, besides the other industrial units forming clusters in and around Amritsar.

Considering the proximity and importance of Taran Tarn and Amritsar, the growth and development of both cities have been integrated in the master plan of Amritsar and Taran Taran.

In view of the heritage and religio-cultural importance of Amritsar, the master plan has given a special status to the walled city as a ‘heritage zone’ to be developed on special guidelines rules and regulations with a focus to decongest the walled city.