ITDC-owned The Ashok hotel monetisation ready to roll, roadshows from Aug 22

The Narendra Modi government will kickstart roadshows from August 22 to gauge investor appetite for the monetisation of the sprawling The Ashok, a 5-star hotel in the heart of the national capital, a government official said on August 19.

The Ashok hotel is owned by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), a PSU under the Union Tourism Ministry, which runs hotels and restaurants at various places, besides providing transport facilities.

After the roadshows are over, ITDC will seek the Union Cabinet's nod for The Ashok's monetisation. This will include options given by the bidders in roadshows, a government official told CNBC-TV18. Once the Union Cabinet approves the monetisation plan for the hotel, advisors will be appointed by the ITDC.

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According to monetisation plan, the first land parcel of 11.62 acres, where The Ashok hotel is located, will be managed by private players on PPP operate-manage-develop (OMD) model for 60 years.

The second land parcel of 1.83 acres of the hotel will be managed by private players for 99 years on the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) model.

The Ashok and the adjacent Hotel Samrat are among the eight ITDC properties that have been listed in the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) released by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in 2021.

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The Ashok group of hotels is the flagship hotel chain under ITDC and has accrued significant brand value over the last 40-50 years. It has been the centre stage for all government events organised by various ministries and public sector entities, which can add more leverage to the brand.

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The ITDC chain of hotels are present across 125 acres of land parcels in major cities across the country. They have not been utilised to their maximum potential and hence monetising them would act as a government push for under-utilised assets. ITDC hotels have a huge locational advantage as the majority of the hotels are in prime areas in the heart of the city.