mumbai there is one more reason for international tourists visiting india to extend their stay here as the highest foreign tourist arrivals ftas receiving state maharashtra is all set to feature prominently on tourist map of world tourism capital of maharashtra aurangabad has received a fillip in the tourism with commissioning of world class tourist visitor centres viz ajanta visitor centre avc and ellora visitor centre evc near the world heritage sites of ajanta and ellora caves the centres were the key milestones of the prestigious ajantaellora conservation tourism development plan aedp phase i ii under the auspices of incredible india and japanese international cooperation agency jica union minister for tourism dr k chiranjeevi inaugurated these stateoftheart centres on monday and opened for the public dr k chiranjeevi also expressed his appreciation for the efforts of maharashtra tourism towards development of world class and environmentally sustainable tourism in the state present with dr k chiranjeevi were chief minister of maharashtra shri prithviraj chavan minister of tourism government of maharashtra shri chhagan bhujbal minister of revenue and guardian minister aurangabad government of maharashtra shri balasaheb thorat minister of education government of maharashtra shri rajendra darda minister of tourism for state shri ranjit kamble principal secretary tourism government of maharashtra mr sumit mullick and senior officials from maharashtra tourism prithviraj chavan said the tourist information centres were one of the ambitious projects of maharashtra tourism these world heritage sites are also major attractions for the foreign tourists and hence it was required to create world class facilities here the project was funded by japan international cooperation agency jica through the union tourism ministry and the plan was implemented by mtdc under the able guidance of state tourism department the ancient caves depicting cultures of buddhism hinduism and jainism have been restored and now attract foreign tourists in a big number the objective of the project was to conserve and preserve monuments and natural resources in the ajantaellora region the project also endeavoured to improve the infrastructure in order to accommodate increasing number of tourists and enhance their experience by providing world class facilities chhagan bhujbal said aurangabad is the tourism capital of maharashtra with rich history heritage and monuments maharashtra tourism archaeological survey of india and aurangabad municipal corporation has undertaken various conversation development and beautification projects in aurangabad these information centres will serve as the onestop location for all information history and importance of these destinations for tourists he further said mtdc has about 254 hacter of land adjacent to ajanta caves and about 34 hacter of land adjacent to ellora caves considering the importance of these heritage sites from the tourism point of view mtdc intended to develop world class tourist infrastructure to provide impetus to the tourism activity in the region around ajanta and ellora caves kiyoshi asako consulgeneral consulate general of japan said i am very happy that our official development assistance is contributing to the world heritage site to maintain and develop the