NEW DELHI: A scenic island with a lighthouse and yoga on the beach. Sensing the tourism potential of such an experience, the government has offered yoga guru Ramdev the chance to develop such an island. Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari while announcing the offer on Saturday, said such an island resort can bundle short-duration stays along with yoga, making it an enticing option for domestic and foreign visitors.Gadkari also said that renowned ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar has also shown keen interest to develop two islands in Andaman Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep with lighthouses as tourist destinations. Shipping ministry sources said that Kakkar had recorded his interest at a recent meet in Mumbai where Gadkari held sessions with private players to develop tourism projects alongside the lighthouses on public private partnership (PPP) basis.Speaking at an event organized by industry body PHDCCI, Gadkari said that his ministry has identified islands and at least 70 lighthouses, which can be developed as tourism destinations. He added that any island that can be developed for the purpose of promoting yoga would get tourists and they can stay there for brief periods. Gadkari added that people can take seaplanes to reach such an island.“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 told TOI over phone. Kakkar owns Lacadives, which is one of the country’s oldest dive operator.Ministry sources said that while all possibilities are open, any entity interested in developing islands for any tourist purpose has to participate in the bidding process.The spokesperson for Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth could not be contacted for a response despite repeated attempts.Earlier there were several media reports that Ramdev had established a Patanjali Yogpeeth on an island in Scotland. Even the yoga guru was quoted by media saying that his aim was to turn the island into a peace haven.In March this year, Gadkari had said that there are over 700 uninhabited islands across India, which can be developed for tourism, filmmaking, entertainment activities, as honeymoon destinations, maritime security and also for generating non-conventional energy - both wind and solar.