Kamats, Uppals and IRCON to form new hotel company for railway projects

Consortium bags first two properties in IRCTC tender process

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

Kamat Hotels India (KHIL), Uppals Hotels, Delhi (real estate developers) and Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) have joined hands in a three-way joint venture, to form a hotel company with a clear mandate of developing railway hotel projects all over the country. This new hotel company, currently going under the name of 'Uppal Kamat Hotels Consortium' has already bagged the first two properties in the tender process of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). These two properties which are located at the Vijayawada and Madurai railway stations will be developed in the three/four star hotel category, as will all the other properties to be developed under this joint venture company. Confirming this exclusively to Express Hospitality, Rumneek Bawa, group CEO, Uppal Hotels revealed, "We are also fairly confident of winning the bids for the next two IRCTC projects at Chandigarh and Secunderabad, for which the tenders are to be opened shortly". The newly formed company will be floated as a legal entity, immediately after the acquisition of these properties. Param Kannampilly, technical director, KHIL, said, "We are yet to finalise the management modalities and the branding for all the properties to be developed under this consortium. However all three parties in this consortium will have an equity stake in the new company and will jointly raise finance for the development of these projects."

Dr PK Goel, MD, IRCTC said, "While IRCTC will have control over the land and will act as a regulatory body, the consortium will build and run the properties. The idea is to leverage the expertise of each party involved." While refusing to give details on the projects, Goel mentioned, "all I can say at this point of time is that these are going to be value for money hotels and as far as the partners are concerned it will be a revenue sharing model." According to IRCTC sources, IRCTC is also looking at private partners to operate and refurbish its existing properties. It has also issued a notice inviting tender bids for franchising of Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES) of Indian Railways.