The announcement itself sounds innocuous enough: a tax holiday for five years for the luxury hotels. But it means the world for Champaner-Pavagadh, where forget a luxury hotel, guesthouses run by Trusts and a tourism board facility are the order of the day. The nearest luxury hotel is in Vadodara city, about 40 km from the monument.

Champaner-Pavagadh has witnessed an increase in the number of visitors lately. The pilgrims visit the temple atop Pavagadh, the foreign tourists go sightseeing around the monuments of Pavagadh and Champaner. With two forest sanctuaries located nearby — in Ratanmahals and Jambughoda — tour operators believe the site has immense possibility for development.

And now it is seems just possible that the site may catch up with similar tourist destinations. Already, the industry has noted and welcomed the Central move.

While it is too early for any plans, Vadodara-based industrialist Amit Goradia, who is also president of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Gujarat Council, welcomed the announcement. He said it could at last lead to the development of Champaner-Pavagadh area as a tourist destination.

Bhupendra Parikh of the Savli Industrial Association too applauded the measure.

Sandhya Gajjar associated with the Heritage Trust, though, sounded a word of caution.

“If the government plans to give tax holiday to hotel owners at the heritage site, it will promote destination tourism. But the state should take care that the hotel owners do not damage the heritage sites.”

The news is yet to sink in for the residents of Pavagadh village, who had led an agitation against conservation efforts of the Archaeological Survey of India and the Heritage Trust.