Ambitious heritage hotel project hits roadblock

BIDDING FOR THREE SITES IN LUCKNOW YET TO FINISH; TWO TO BE HANDED OVER TO PRIVATE PARTIES POST ELECTIONS, OFFICIALS SAID

Aakash Ghosh & Anupam Srivastava

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s ambitious project to commercialise some of its heritage sites, a la Rajasthan, is caught in a mesh of administrative roadblocks.

Out of the five Nawabi-era structures in Lucknow that were chosen to be turned into hotels last year, bidding for only two of them could be completed so far, officials of the state tourism department said.

The department, which has been tasked with the project, added the procedure had to be halted due to the forthcoming elections.

However, brakes were pulled during the tendering process in November last year as well due to a lack of interested agencies.

Mukesh Meshram, principal secretary (culture), said, “The bidding process for Chatar Manzil and Roshan-ud-Dawla [in Lucknow] has been completed, and it will be handed over to the parties after the elections.”

“In the first phase, notable destinations such as Chattar Manzil in Lucknow, Chunar Fort in Mirzapur, Barua Sagar Fort in Jhansi, Roshan-udDaula Kothi in Lucknow, Barsana Jal Mahal in Mathura and Shukla Talab in Kanpur will be converted into heritage hotels. The tender process for these places has been completed but approval from the state government is pending,” said a statement from the department.

“Target destinations for the second phase are Tahrauli Fort in Jhansi, Mastani Mahal and Lake Palace in Mahoba, Balabehat Fort in Lalitpur, Rangarh Fort in Banda, Akbar Sikargah in Kirawali, Agra, Baradari in Wazirganj Gonda district, Gulista-e-Iram and Kothi Darshan Vilas in Lucknow and Tikaith Rai Baradari in Bithoor,” the statement added.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Last year, the state government decided to turn five of the total nine heritage buildings in Lucknow into heritage hotels by leasing them out to private parties. The project was mooted on the lines of an initiative by Rajasthan, which has converted more than 200 of its heritage buildings into hotels.

The heritage sites in UP have been categorised into three investment slabs of Rs 30 crore, Rs 50 crore, and Rs 100 crore for the project.

The tourism department aims to incorporate facilities such as wellness centres, restaurants, banquet halls, wedding destinations, adventure tourism, and theme parks within these heritage hotels.