In order to monetise assets to meet its disinvestment target for the current financial year, the Union Government will lease out The Ashok Hotel in Lutyens&rsquo Delhi and its adjacent 22-acre land for building service apartments and a market complex.
However, its twin, Hotel Samrat, will continue to be run by India Tourism Development Corp. (ITDC) due to its proximity to the prime minister&rsquos residence, a sensitive location that demands high security.
Earlier last year, NITI Aayog had suggested the lease of Hotel Ashok, a public enterprise into the hands of private business players.
In the report commissioned from Feedback Infra, DIPAM had predicted that the government could get 7,500 crore rupees from the monetisation of its assets of hotel infrastructures. However, the finance ministry later announced that the government shall not be targeting any specific amount as the report reflects the assessment conducted before the COVID-19 outbreak.
In its plan to lease out the hotel property, the inter-ministerial group has allowed commercial opportunities to flourish in the land, provided they follow the required security measures.
Apart from putting the hotel on lease, ITDC has shut down many of its hotels in various states due to losses incurred in the last few years. Some of those properties include Hotel Janpath in Delhi, Hotel Jammu Ashok in Jammu, and Hotel Kalinga Ashok in Bhubaneswar.
