Newstrack

Hotel developers surf demand wave

Cash in on hoteliers' demand for environmentally-approved sites

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

Developers are currently riding the demand wave for land for hotels from hoteliers venturing into the industry for the first time and eagerly looking at sites that are pre-approved for hotel construction.

This has opened up avenues for developers who already own approved land for hotels. MSX Developers, for example, is looking for buyers to purchase its 8,800 square metres of hotel land in the Greater Noida region which has been approved by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation. Speaking to Express Hospitality, its managing director of MSX Developers, Sandeep Goyal said, "We want to sell this piece of land since we are not interested in hotel construction." Similarly, Rajesh Khullar of Goodwill Group remarks, "We are selling an approved hotel site at a prime location in Ludhiana next to Fortune Classic Hotel. Although we do construct hotels, this time we are only selling the land." Khullar declined to answer when asked whether selling pre-approved land fetched more money. The 2,450-yard site is being offered for purchase with 300 per cent FAR.

Many real estate advisory experts and hoteliers feel that hotel projects in India are unnecessarily delayed due to environmental clearances (over 40). Also, considering that the provision of single-window clearance is only limited to a couple of states like Rajasthan, purchasing pre-approved hotel land is becoming popular.