Kufri to be year-round ski destination
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, December 15
Kufri, in the suburbs of Shimla, is all set to be revived as a 365-day ski destination with India’s first indoor ski park to be developed at a cost of Rs 120 crore.
Spread over an area of 25,000 square feet, the project, slated for completion within a year, is expected to generate employment for about 1,000 people. Out of these, 75 per cent beneficiaries will be from Himachal.
Designed by Infinity Design Studio, the project will be executed by Unlimited Snow – makers of Ski Dubai and Ski Egypt. The project work, expected to start in March 2021, will become functional by April 2022, says the promoter of the mega project, Nishant Nag, who is the owner of Nagsons Developers.
The theme of the park is snow village. Steel structures will be used which will escalate the cost by Rs 20 crore but reduce the construction time by two or three years as executing works during the peak winter season is a daunting task in an area like Kufri, where mercury hovers around the freezing point, he added.
He said the construction would be a fusion of contemporary and local style and the idea is to reestablish Kufri as a 365-day ski destination.
The project is in the pipeline and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard would be signed between the state government and the developers soon, said highly placed sources in the Tourism Department.
The total cost of the project, which is to come up over 5.04 acres in the heart of Kufri, is Rs 250 crore, which includes an indoor ski park, a palatial mall, residential villas and other amenities.
Skiing was a major winter attraction of Shimla and Kufri slopes covered under thick blanket of snow. The last ski carnival was held at Kufri in February 1968 but over the years, the snowline started shifting upwards and barring few sessions in 1991 and 1982, skiing became a thing of past in Kufri.
The project will boost tourism and adventure sports round the year in the Kufri area and also generate economic activity in Shimla and the adjoining area besides increasing the stay duration of tourists.
