TN govt to provide incentives for projects coming up on the two-lane express highway
The Tamil Nadu government is planning to give incentives to companies for setting up hotels and restaurants on the East Coast Road (ECR) in order to boost tourism.
ECR is a two-lane express highway along the coast of Bay of Bengal connecting Chennai to Cuddalore through Puducherry. The total length of the road from Chennai to Thoothukudi is 595 km.
Speaking at an interactive session with the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association here on Saturday, S Bakthavatchalam, joint director, tourism department, said, “We will provide incentives for realtors setting up hotels and restaurants here.” The government has also commissioned a study on this initiative.
Besides, it had identified places like heritage towns and would be focusing on providing quality infrastructure in the coastal region. “There is also tremendous potential in the state for luxury cruises and golf courses,” he added.
A study on ‘Investment opportunities in hotel infrastructure in India’ by Evalueserve was released on the occasion.
Bhavya Sehgal from Evalueserve, said, ”Despite slowdown Chennai has been one of the most steady hotel markets in India as the customer base is fairly diversified, ranging from IT/ITeS and automobiles.”
In 2008, the state government had approved 110 hotel projects, which include eight five-star hotels, one four star and three 3-star hotels, which would add 4,000 rooms by 2012.
Sehgal also urged the government to accord the hotel sector the status of export and infrastructure industries in a bid to boost investments.
The study also suggested delinking of hotel projects from commercial real estate, allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment in tourism infrastructure, creation of land banks for budget hotels and single-window clearance for new hotel projects among others.
