New Delhi: new delhi: the second round of disinvestment of itdc hotels also appears to have got a lukewarm response.
While qutab hotel in new delhi found two suitors — sunil mittal of bharti telecom and sushil gupta of asian hotels — hotel kanishka and ashok yatri niwas in the capital and the itdc property in varanasi did not receive any valid bids. for the second time, hotel ashoka in new delhi did not attract any bids despite the government relaxing conditions.
Hotel janpath in the city attracted one bid from the metro group, and laxmi vilas at udaipur also found only one bidder, bharat hotels. the bidding for the remaining hotels like hotel ranjit and lodhi hotel will take place on january 24. the government is expected to complete the sale of second tranche of hotels by february 5, under which nearly 2,000 rooms have been put on the block.
Interestingly, of the properties offered for sale, new delhi accounts for over 90 per cent of the total capacity. while kanishka and indarprastha have a combined capacity of 875 rooms, qutab hotel has 95 rooms. among other properties on the block, hotel janpath has 216 rooms, hotel ranjit along with lodhi hotel has a combined capacity of nearly 400 rooms, and the number of rooms in laxmi vilas palace hotel in udaipur and hotel varanasi total around 142. the government has mandated that only established hotel chains in india and abroad owning or managing five-star hotel can participate in lease ownership of samrat hotel.
Sources said in the case of other hotels, it has mandated various criteria including a minimum net worth criteria of rs 100 crore for qutab hotel and rs 12 crore for hotel varanasi and laxmi vilas hotel. for all other hotels, a net worth threshold of rs 35 crore has been set. in the third tranche, the government has invited initial bids for nine properties including kovalam ashok beach resort in kerala with 196 rooms, hotel airport ashok at kolkata with 149 rooms, hotel jaipur ashok, hotel patliputra ashok at patna and hotel kalinga ashok at bhubaneshwar. the government has already completed disinvestment of six hotels, including ashok bangalore, which has been bought by bharat hotels.
