New Delhi, Nov 30 (DNA) : Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday announced that centre was keen on offering a scenic island with a lighthouse and yoga on the beach to yoga guru Baba Ramdev, reports an English daily. The island would be developed as a resort that would make an ideal tourist hub for short-duration stays along with yoga, for domestic and foreign visitors.

The event was organised by industry body PHDCCI, where Gadkari spoke about the ministry's proposal of developing 70 such islands with lighthouses as tourist destinations, that they as yoga centres would attract a lot of tourists. He also mentioned that renowned ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar has also shown keen interest in developing two islands in Andaman Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep, which would be made on public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

"We have put proposals for Cinque Island in Andaman and Nicobar, and Minicoy Island in Lakshadweep to develop eco-friendly resorts only to promote water sports and diving. So, we will get less number of people and there will be no harm to the ecology of the islands," Kakkar said. Kakkar also owns Lacadives, which is one of the country's oldest dive operator.

Ministry sources have also confirmed that any entity interested in developing islands for any tourist purpose are open to participate in the bidding process.

There have been media reports that state that Ramdev has already established a Patanjali Yogpeeth on an island in Scotland.