DIAL’s 2010 room service falls short

New Delhi: The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is expected to be ready with only a sixth of the 3,000 rooms projected by next year in the IGI Airport’s upcoming hospitality district, a Parliamentary committee report has said. DIAL officials, too, admit there’s little time to build 3,000 rooms, and the airport developer is gearing up to ensure as many possible are up in time for the mega-event.
The report on ‘Development of Tourism Infrastructure and Amenities for 2010 Commonwealth Games’ says DIAL is expected to pool in only 500 rooms in the 45-acre project. As per projections, Delhi would be short of at least 15,000 rooms for the Games.
On its part, DIAL is now assessing bids for the hospitality project from realty developers. But it is yet to decide how many rooms will be ready in time.
DIAL spokesperson Arun Arora said results of the bids recently held will be announced “very soon”.
According to senior officials, the bids fell short by a fair margin: they reportedly fetched the airport developer Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore, against approximately Rs 2,700 crore when the previous bids were opened last year. The one-year gap and the deteriorating economic conditions have led to the shortfall, officials said.
Sources in the civil aviation ministry said DIAL has now been asked to expand its revenue base from the hospitality district. As per an agreement with the government, DIAL would use 5 per cent of 5,000 acres of airport land for commercial purposes. It has so far released 65 acres, out of 250 acres of allocated land, for bids where hotels will be constructed in a built-up area of 45 acres.
26/03/09 Geeta Gupta/ExpressIndia

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Categories: Airports Mar 2009