A belated realization about the accommodation crunch during the impending Commonwealth Games is likely to upset the grand plans for the prestigious mega event. The tourism ministry has estimated that about 40,000 more hotel rooms would be required to accommodate the expected visitors during the Commonwealth Games which are now barely two years away.
As of now there are just about 11,000 hotel rooms in the city. Around 168 premises have been registered under the bed and breakfast scheme which was launched last year. The premises owners will offer only 500 rooms.
The Delhi Development Authority—DDA - has sold 33 hotel plots since January 2006. These hotels will contribute around 6,500 rooms for the guests for the games. The total number of rooms from these projects falls far short of the target of 40,000.
Union tourism and culture minister Ambika Soni told in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha last week that the ministry was in touch with various land-owning agencies to identify the additional hotel sites. The agencies contacted include the DDA, ministry of railways, urban development and civil aviation and the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. They have been advised to offer investor- friendly land policies and single window clearance for attracting hotel projects.
While the Haryana Government has promised to provide 9,000 rooms in Gurgaon and Faridabad, the UP government is likely to create space for 5000-6000 rooms. All these rooms total up to around 33,000 rooms leaving a shortfall of 7,000 rooms.
Senior ministry officials claim that they are exploring the options of promoting home-stay schemes and also exploring the possibility of allowing the existing hotels and motels to enhance the floor area and add more rooms.
DDA is sure that it will achieve its target of building 6,500 rooms well in time. It has recently sold two hotel plots out of the four. While one is situated in Pitampura, the other is in Shastri Park. The remaining two plots are located at Pitampura community centre and Dwarka Sector-14. DDA hopes that the 33 hotel plots sold by it will create space for around 6,500 rooms.
According to industry experts even if the hotels are completed in time, it won’t be easy to provide world-class facilities to the guests.