Their urge to get closer to their motherland has finally discovered a strong medium — business through religious tourism. UMA Hospitality Ventures of Los Angeles, USA, led by Indians who belong to UP, have signed an MoU with the state government for setting up hotels, dharamshalas and elderly homes in the religious cities of Ayodhya , Mathura, Varanasi and Allahabad.Arun Srivastava, who is the project in-charge in India, and the general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Association of North America , told TOI that the company would be investing about Rs 500 crore in the sector of religious tourism.He said that the work would start from Ayodhya where a 100-room business hotel would be constructed first, followed by a 100 room dharmshala and then a home for the elderly. The pattern would then be repeated in Varanasi, Mathura and end with Allahabad.“The government had been talking about promoting religious tourism and we thought we could contribute to it. A place like Ayodhya, which is so important for Hindus, still does not have a decent hotel and people need to travel to Lucknow to spend the night. We want to change this. All our hotels will also come with special suites for important visitors like minsters, as the four cities we will work in are frequently visited by the PM or CM,” Srivastava said.

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