new delhi four resorts tree houses and tourism tents with 460 rooms will be set up in the andaman and nicobar islands known for its worldclass beaches with pristine water and shallow reefs officials said on sundayaiming to make the archipelago a major tourist attraction like the maldives and mauritius bids are invited from private players to develop tourists facilities under design build finance operate and transfer on public private partnership ppp basisaccording to the plans an ecotourism resort with 220 rooms will be set up at lalaji bay long island ecotourism tents and tree houses with 70 rooms will be set up at smith island similar tents with 50 rooms will be set up in aves island and an ecotourism resort with 120 rooms will be set up at shaheed dweep neil islandthese four ppp projects are part of the central governments ambitious plans for the allround development of the andamans a home ministry official saidthe plans include setting up premium tents and tree houses mangrove interpretation centre turtle observatory centre island hopping facility beach shacks and sunrise points premium island resorts beach promenade nature trail and camping facility besides other infrastructureall planned projects are expected to bring in investment of more than rs 650 crore and have inbuilt condition of 60 per cent local employment the official saidthe andaman and nicobar islands is renowned across the world for its pristine natural beauty rich marine life flora and fauna spread over 836 islands islets and rocks the islands present picturesque views with rich culture and heritagethe pristine water with worldclass beaches and shallow reefs are a major attraction for tourists our aim is to make the andamans an attractive worldclass tourist destination similar to the maldives and mauritius the official saidpaving the way for ease of tourism 30 islands have already been exempted from the restricted area permit rap regime and requirement of mandatory registration of foreigners arriving in the archipelago within 24 hours of their entry has also been done away withthe watersport industry has been given a big boost and the regulations and guidelines have been simplified duly considering the safety aspect of users while honouring operators interestthe islands have witnessed an increase in the number of licensed diving centres whereas adventure products like sea walk and para sailing have been newly introducedthe bed and breakfast scheme has enrolled 40 home stays 121 tour operators have been registered since 2014 and a stateoftheart sound and light show facility has been installed at netaji subhash chandra bose island ross islandfloating jetties have been installed at various tourism islands and orchid butterfly gardens are being developed to attract nature loversduring 201418 tourist arrivals have increased from 311 lakh to 513 lakh a growth of 65 per cent hotel accommodation has doubled and now stands at 7000 while more than 100 small size fibre reinforced plastic frp tourist boats and 1000 tourist cabs have been added over the perioda total of 94 per cent area in the andamans comprises rich