Four Smart Proposals to Repurpose Rushikonda Palace

The Andhra Pradesh government has been scratching its head to find a viable solution for utilising the luxurious Rushikonda Palace in Vishakhapatnam which was constructed by the previous regime with public exchequer just to fulfil the megalomania of the then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who wanted to permanently shift his residence if he retains power for the second term.

After dilly dallying for over 15 months since coming to power, the government has finally decided to invite ideas from the public on how best to make optimal use of the sprawling palace for tourism purposes and sought the intervention of various stakeholders to participate in consultation with AP Tourism department last week.

In response to the government’s call, the federation of star hotels in Andhra Pradesh came up with some interesting suggestions to Tourism Secretary and IAS Amrapali. The federation reportedly came up with four proposals to make use of the expensive palace in an efficient manner that will benefit the state government without much burden to maintain it.

The first suggestion in the list of proposals is to turn the palace into a Consulate Office either for any of the foreign countries like USA, UAE and Singapore which have a sizeable population of settlers from Andhra Pradesh. As there is no Consulate Office in the state after bifurcation, setting up at a foreign embassy in Vizag would be a welcome step. So, choosing Rushikonda palace to house any of the consular officers will be an appropriate decision.

The second option is to invite national and international corporate brands to partner with the state government through PPP model and lease the entire structure on a long term basis as it would generate revenue and also create employment for locals. The third proposal made by the federation is to make this building a tourism hub and house resorts, banquet halls, wedding venues, water sports and other recreational activities all over the surroundings and make it financially viable for the government.

The final suggestion includes to transform the palace into cultural and culinary destination by installing food courts, displaying tribal and craft products and organising beach festivals and musical events. The association assured to extend support the government and the tourism department on behalf of all its stakeholders to make Rushikonda a global tourism hub.

All four proposals seem practical and likely to recoup the maintenance costs on this plushy building if either of them is implemented by the government.