FHRAI seeks clearances for Aerocity hotels
The body has appealed to the civil aviation minister for intervention. The hotels in Aerocity will together contribute 5,500 much-needed additional rooms to NCR’S limited inventory.
TT BUREAU Vivek
Nair, President of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India ( FHRAI), in a meeting with Ajit Singh, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, sought his urgent intervention in the undue delay in issue of completion certificates and other clearances to hotels in the upcoming hospitality district of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Aerocity.
As many as 13 hotels are being built in the Aerocity at a combined project cost of approximately
10,000 crore. The hotels, which include marquee names such as the JW Marriott, will together contribute 5,500 much-needed additional rooms to the capital city's limited inventory of 11,000 rooms in the branded segment and generate direct employment for thousands of people. The construction of some of these hotels is either already complete or in advanced stages. An inordinate delay unreasonable and impractical. Moreover, it has already been clarified that all buildings in the area will incorporate state- of-the-art security and surveillance infrastructure.
Nair has highlighted to the Minister that in order to achieve the target of dou- bling the Foreign Tourist Arrivals from six to twelve million within the 12th Plan Period ( 2012- 17), the Ministry of Tourism and the Planning Commission have estimated that 1,80,000 additional hotel rooms would be required across the country, entailing a massive cap- ital investment of over
1,25,000 crore. Any prolonged and unwarranted uncertainty on receiving the final regulatory clearances can potentially undermine the viability of a landmark and prestigious project such as the Aerocity. The FHRAI President has expressed his concern that this would in turn, deal a severe setback to the hospitality sector's ability to attract the significant domestic and foreign investment ( FDI) which is imperative to fuel its envisioned growth and expansion.