Scuba diving to become popular in India soon

BANGALORE: India has a vast coastline and thus has a potential of becoming a booming industry in scuba diving over the next five years. The under water sport, scuba diving, is an adventurous game and famous in some of the coastline areas in the world. At present, there are 22 dive centres in India which is expecetd to touch upto 50 in the next five years.

"We believe the time has come for India to become a major force in the world of scuba diving," said Rohaan Sulaiman, President Bangalore Dive Club, which will be launched on June 14. Worldwide, the scuba diving industry, including the hospitality factor was estimated to be USD 47 billion, said Madhava Reddy, Founder Director of Planet Scuba India, a scuba diving inland centre, with a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) five star diving centre.

"Today the contribution of scuba diving may be minuscule, but in five years, with the plans under implementation, this adventure will be a significant contributor to sea-based tourism," he said. Information received also suggest that some prominent names were evincing keen interest in developing it. Lack of resources and infrastructure could have been the reasons why the sport had not picked up earlier in India despite having a vast coastline, huge population and an economy that was growing, Reddy said.