Vivek Nair, President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), in a meeting with the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, sought his urgent intervention in the serious matter of an 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 Rupees 10,000 crores. The hotels, which include marquee names such as the J.W 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 in their commissioning would not only cause colossal financial losses to the individual developers but also put in peril, the vision of establishing a vibrant world-class hospitality hub, which was conceived as an integral component of the ambitious modernisation program of the Delhi International Airport.
Nair has highlighted to the Minister that in order to achieve the target of doubling our 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 capital investment of over Rs 1,25,000 crores. 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.
