Summary:
New Delhi: With soaring tourist traffic to hill stations like Mussoorie, Simla and Shillong putting pressure on already choked infrastructure of these towns, the Himalayan States have come together to seek special grant from the Centre. Seasonal tourists apart, the States get a lot of religious tourists every year. This requires the States to build additional public facilities such as link roads, bus terminals, roadside amenities and stay arrangements among others. The States have said that they are behind the national average in own tax/gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio. As a result of mismatch between receipts and expenditure, most of the states are heavily dependent on central transfers to meet their requirement..