Centaur not to be razed till 2012

New Delhi: The suspense over Centaur Hotel's future — whether it will stay till Commonwealth Games or not — is finally over. Air India, whose subsidiary Hotel Corp of India runs the place, has learnt from the GMR-backed Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) that the hotel won't be knocked down, at least till 2012. And if air traffic does not grow fast enough to necessitate construction of the second new terminal, then it may even remain till 2016, said a senior AI official.
In the first phase of development, DIAL is building an integrated domestic-cum-international airport and a runway, all of which have to be ready by 2010. In the next phase, one more runway has to be built and Centaur lies in the path of this proposed strip. Hence, DIAL had last year told AI that the Centaur will have to be demolished.
"We had asked the airport management to give exact timeframe, as plans to renovate the hotel were on hold. As many as 100 of its 376 rooms are locked as they have become unusable over the years. A Rs 13-crore plan was prepared to renovate 100 rooms, refurbish 50 others and modernise the flight kitchen in the hotel," said the official.
Now with DIAL removing the sword over Centaur's head, AI will begin the renovation.
29/05/07 Times of India

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Categories: Air India May 2007, Airports May 2007