ITC to set up 3 hotels in West Bengal

Hospitality major ITC is ready to spread its presence in West Bengal in a big way.

In his speech at the Tourism@Resurgent East, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced that ITC had proposed to set up three Fortune hotels in Siliguri, Haldia and Durgapur.

Confirming that the company had expansion plans for its hotel business, Ranvir Bhandari, area head - projects east, said the company was scouting for land in eastern Kolkata for another luxury hotel. This is besides its plans to augment capacity at the ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton Hotel & Towers by another 300-plus rooms.

ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar had earlier made similar announcements at the AGM. ITC had also bid, unsuccessfully, for the KMDA plot in the vicinity of the existing hotel, a plot that went to Emaar-MGF for a record Rs 32 crore an acre.

Besides, this ITC has signed up a whole series of properties under its WelcomHeritage brand in north Bengal, Assam and other destinations in the north-east.

Among these are the Windermere in Darjeeling, Ghatoonga, Thangal Manor and Burra Shib's Bungalows in Jorhat, Denzong Cherry Banks Retreat in Gangtok, and Rosaville Cottage in Shillong.

Three other properties, one forest resort and two general resorts, have also been signed on in Arunachal Pradesh, said Rakesh Mathur, president, ITC WelcomHeritage.

The company is also negotiating with tea-bungalow owners near Darjeeling, Manas and Digboi.

Deveshwar had said at an earlier press conference after the company's annual general meeting that ITC would be investing Rs 15,000 crore across its different businesses with a major focus on hotels.

The company was already in possession of land for three new hotels in Bangalore and one each in Hyderabad and Chennai. The vision was to have a hotel in every state capital.