Raipur, Sep 29 (IANS) The tourism industry in Chhattisgarh has been receiving a boost from a most unlikely corner - the Maoist rebels - who so far in its violence-ridden history never targeted the thousands of foreign and domestic tourists visiting the state every year.

Tourists in large numbers flock in over 100 points every month but till date they faced no threats from the Maoists, a minister said Thursday, adding that this gesture from the rebels is helping the state to become one of the tourist destinations in Asia.

The state that has 44 percent areas under forest cover, which is 12 percent of India's total forests, has witnessed a sharp rise in number of domestic and foreign tourists in past two years, despite escalation of Maoist violence in Bastar region.

This region is one of the best locations in the country mainly for nature lovers.

The region spreads out in 40,000 sq km and is loaded with picturesque hills and valleys and waterfalls. Bastar has Kutumbsar - the oldest living caves of the world and the Chitrakot - the largest waterfall in Asia.

"The Maoists stepped up attacks in the last two years mainly in Bastar where we have dozens of tourists key points. But insurgency has never posed a threat to tourism, in fact, the visitor flow has increased 18 percent till August this year compared to figures in 2005," the state's Tourism Minister Brijmohan Agrawal told IANS.

"Despite Maoists strong presence in Bastar forests for at least three decades, not a single tourist has ever been threatened," he said.

He said Bastar's landscape has plenty of caves and rocks that are said to be 3,000 to 3,300 million years old.

"The best of Bastar are picturesque valleys, rivers, green and splendid Sal forests, wild animals, caves, waterfall, twisting valleys and lovely folk-culture," the minister said.

Said Agrawal: "Major tour operators of China, Japan and Hong Kong have shown interest to offload tourists in the state regularly."

Agrawal said that he led a five-member delegation to China and Japan this month and it held meetings with major tour operators in those countries to increase Asian tourists flow to Chhattisgarh.

"We have made series of presentations in Tokyo and Beijing about dozens of key tourists sites of Bastar. We also enlightened them on the famous Buddhist pilgrimage Sirpur," the minister said.

A Chinese scholar Huein Tsang visited Sirpur in the seventh century.

He said the government has been spending millions on creating world class facilities around the tourists destinations across the state to attract foreign tourists and also to promote eco-tourism.