Le Meridien’s licence cancelled, Taj Mansingh to go under hammer

NEW DELHI: Two of Delhi’s landmark hotels may have to wrap up operations soon, with the civic authorities cancelling Le Meridien’s licence and reaffirming its decision to auction Taj Mansingh on Thursday.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made the announcement after attending a special meeting of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). “Important decisions in today’s meeting – Open auction of Taj Mansingh cancel Le Meridien Hotel licence...” he tweeted.

A senior NDMC official told HT that the council decided to act against Le Meridien over nonpayment of licence fees for a couple of decades. “The dispute has been going on since 1982. Till date, the total amount owed by them has accumulated to around Rs 523 crore. Now, in accordance with the Public Premises Eviction Act-1971, the matter is being referred to the NDMC estate officer and the hotel has been declared as an unauthorised occupant,” he said. However, a Le Meridien spokesperson said the establishment was yet to receive an official communiqué in this regard. “The case is sub judice. All hotel operations continue uninterrupted,” he added

The NDMC official said the process of cancelling the licence will take three to four months.

A Union home ministry official said the Centre also shares the NDMC’S opinion on the matter. The Ndmc-owned Taj Mansingh was given to Tata’s Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on lease for 33 years. The lease expired in 2011, but the company was given nine temporary extensions after that on various grounds.