Ford's Himachal ski project delayed

The lucrative $300 million Himalayan ski village project, of American auto giant Ford, has been further delayed.

Top sources of the state government told Business Standard today that the government had asked the Himalayan ski village, a subsidiary of Ford auto company, to provide clarifications on environment issues for the ambitious project, proposed to come up near Manali, some 300 km from here at over 9,000 ft above sea level.

Recently, the Tourism Department Director (IAS), who incidentally has been transferred, reportedly pointed out certain environment ambiguities in the detailed project report (DPR) submitted by the company to the state government.

"Now the company has been asked to clarify why an environment management plan wasn't submitted along with its DPR," a source said.

The Himalayan ski village has been given a fortnight to clarify its position. The company was to start work on the project, which it bagged a year ago, early this year. It is considered the largest FDI in the tourism sector in the country.

Company officials said they have already hired Jack Zehren, a well-known American architect, who has visited the proposed site several times.

The design of the resort is proposed to merge with the local Himalayan architecture of wood and stone houses with slate roofs. The building of the entire ski village is expected to take around three years.

The project plan includes 700 five-star rooms, 300 Swiss villas, a 2,420-seater restaurant and a handicraft village.

The base park will hold 1,000 vehicles and a high-tech gondola will ferry 500 passengers every hour to an altitude of 14,000 feet.

The company will buy around 140 hectares from private parties and another 5 hectares (for the ski slopes) from the government on a 99-year lease basis.

Alfred Ford, great grandson of the legendary Henry Ford, also visited the project site and Shimla in late 2005.