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NEW DELHI: The luxury of Maldivian water villas may soon be experienced in India Looking to develop high-value tourist destinations, Niti Aayog, the government’s think-tank, has prepared a Rs 1,500 crore water and land villa project in the lagoons of Lakshadweep and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.Along with the villas, infrastructure would be developed, including the building of new airports, introduction of sea planes to these destinations and strengthening helicopter services as well as floating jetties to ensure smooth accessibility.“Bids have been invited for the seven coveted projects, which will be developed on a priority basis in public-private partnership mode… The idea is to make India a major tourist destination,” an official told ET.The Aayog has proposed building 125 rooms in water villas to be constructed on Minicoy island, Suheli island and Kadmat island of Lakshadweep.It plans to construct 460 rooms in land villas on Long island, Aves island, Smith island and Shaheed Dweep island in Andaman & Nicobar.“The model concession agreement has been finalised. We hope to kickstart work on these projects in the current financial year itself,” the official said. Investments in these projects, with concession periods varying from 50 to 75 years, are projected to fetch returns of 30-40%.According to the official, the Aayog has already obtained environmental approvals for all the projects and expects to award the contracts by end of this year.