Taj Group interested in making a 5-star hotel in the hill state
The Taj Group has evinced interest in constructing a five-star hotel at Garhi Cant area here after the Uttarakhand government decided to cancel its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with infrastructure major Emaar MGF.
“Top officials of the Taj Group recently visited Dehra Dun and held talks with the government officials on the issue of constructing a five-star hotel at Garhi Cant,” a top government official told Business Standard.
A fresh bidding process would be floated regarding the construction of the 5-star hotel, the official added. An investment of Rs 200 crore is proposed in the project.
The move came after the state government rejected a request of Emaar MGF to construct a mall at the site of its proposed 5-star hotel here. The Emaar MGF had entered into an MoU with the state tourism department in 2008 to construct the 5-star hotel on private public partnership (PPP) mode. The tourism department had given 10 acres of land to the company which it had got from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Garhi Cant area here as part of the tourism project.
Under the agreement, Emar MGF had deposited Rs 1.5 crore to the state tourism department as annual lease rent in 2008 when the MoU was signed. The hotel was to be constructed in 2-3 years time.
But in the same year, owing to the financial meltdown, the company did not show any interest in building the hotel. When the tourism department took up the matter, the company said it should be allowed to construct a mall along with the hotel which it said would be a better business proposition.
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However, the tourism department rejected the idea of constructing a mall along with the hotel.
When asked whether any formal notice will be issued to Emaar MGF, the official said a notice would shortly be sent to Emaar MGF regarding the cancellation of the MoU. “We would return all the money of Emaar MGF after the cancellation of the MoU,” said the official.