TAXILA: The Punjab government is launching a multi-million dollar project for attracting religious tourists to the province under public-private ownership for which the World Bank will be providing Rs60 million dollars.

Sources in the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) told Dawn on Friday that the project for attracting more religious tourists will start in January 2017.

The project includes the restoration and conservation of five gurdwaras including the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Gurdawa Punja Sahib Hassanabdal, Kartarpura Gurdwara and Gurdwara Rori Sahib Eminabad in Gujranwala.

It also includes the restoration of Buddhist sites in Taxila, the construction of a Sikh heritage museum, 220 guest rooms and a three star hotel in Nankana Sahib, the sources said.

ETPB Deputy Secretary Shrines Imran Gondal told Dawn the project will also see the restoration of centuries old Sikh temples and provide better boarding and lodging facilities to Sikh pilgrims across the province.

Talking to Dawn, the first Sikh to be elected to the Punjab Assembly, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora said the project will also benefit local hotels.

He said a team from the Wold Bank had come to visit all stakeholders.

“The next pre-appraisal mission of the World Bank will be in October this year and the project will start coming January,” he said.

“Some 20,000 to 25,000 Sikh pilgrims visit the country each year. There are 25 million Sikhs in the world and if can get even just 10pc to visit, it will help our economy a lot,” he said.

Mr Arora, who is also a member of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, said boarding and lodging facilities will be improved keeping in mind the expected increase in the number of visiting pilgrims, with help from the private sector.

“India’s Golden Temple in Amritsar attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year and if we compare the tourism industries of both countries, that of Pakistan has a lot more potential for growth. Sikhs around the world have expressed interest in the project,” he said.

“With help from concerned departments, we are going to revive the cultural and archaeological importance of gurdwaras. It is a multi-pronged approach that will facilitate pilgrims. More counters will be set up at the Wagah Railway Station and at international airports as well,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2016