The Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) plans to pump in Rs 410 crore in the next five years for expansion as well as reconstruction of its properties.
The modernisation and expansion programmes will be financed mainly through internal generation of resources and without any budgetary support from the government, ITDC chairman and managing
director Anil Bhandari said yesterday. The new projects envisage construction of a five-star hotel in Chandigarh and reconstruction of Lodhi hotel here into a five-star deluxe hotel. The setting up of duty free shops at Sonauli along the Indo-Nepal border and Wagha along the Indo-Pakistan border are also being considered, he said. We are also contemplating joint venture hotels in various parts of the country, he added.
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Bhandari said a total of 23 properties were currently being renovated and refurbished. Since several tourists coming to India are business travellers, most hotels will be equipped with modern communication systems and information technology products. He said a lot of investment is being made to upgrade elevators, air-conditioning plants, furniture, kitchen equipment and sanitation in ITDC hotels.
At the same time, Bhandari said, the company would also invest in human resource development. Of the total 7,800 employees, nearly 5,000 have been trained in workshops for total quality management (TQM) concept. Special training programmes will also be held regularly and operational manuals updated at constant intervals. During 1996-97, ITDCs turnover jumped to Rs 315.90 crore from Rs 298.05 crore in 1995-96. The net profit after tax is expected to move up from Rs 47.75 crore to Rs 55.80 crore.
This is despite the setback to tourism industry due to decline in arrivals of high-spending travellers which adversely affected occupancy and profitablity of quality hotels in the country, Bhandari said. The productivity per employee during 1996-97 increased to Rs 4.04 lakh from Rs 3.83 lakh the previous year. The reserves and surplus totalled Rs 160.62 crore as against Rs 41.60 crore in the same period. The return of capital employed during 1996-97 increased to 27.2 per cent from 2.8 per cent during 1991-92.
The company has already paid an interim dividend of six per cent amounting to Rs 4.05 crore for 1996-97. Bhandari said it had proposed a final dividend of 14 per cent, thus expecting to pay the highest ever dividend of 20 per cent ever since its inception. Bhandari said for the year 1997-98, ITDC had signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry of tourism envisaging higher targets by 17.75 per cent and 31.40 per cent in respect of turnover and profit before tax respectively as compared to MOU targets for the previous year.