HPTDC Charts Out Major Disinvestment Plan

Anindita Chattopadhyay- New Delhi

The cash-strapped Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) is on a fast track mode towards disinvestment. "A shoe-string budget of Rs five crore, accumulated losses amounting to Rs 9.21 crore, only 10 out of 51 properties making profit and the absence of budgetary support from the government have forced us to take this route to raise fund for tourism development," said Ashok Thakur, secretary, department of tourism, Himachal Pradesh.

The disinvestment shall unfold through outright sale, long lease and management lease and has been planned in the following sequence:

• All new hotel projects in the pipeline
• Hotel units, which have closed down
• Loss making and marginal profit making ones

The corporation has already hired two consultants IL&FS and Feedback Ventures while three more will be empanelled. Explaining the consultant's role, Thakur said, "The consultant helps us in the pre-bid stage by identifying the projects, assessing market feasibility and determining the reserve price by evaluating the property. Then they assist in approving the technical bid. Our in-house team works with the consultant because they know the local requirements and the local flavour."

The financial bid, he pointed out, gets cleared through the Cabinet along with the dreaded section 118, which does not allow a non-resident Himachali to buy land. "The single window clearance for section 118 has encouraged investors. We have given out the Solang Nullah ski resort project for an annual land lease fee of Rs 40 lakh while the Ford Family Foundation has agreed to pay US$ 135 million for another mountain resort," he added. Currently, HPTDC plans to disinvest seven properties, four eco-tourism resorts, two five-star resorts, two golf courses, one film city, two ropeway projects and two ice-skating rinks.

On how the fund collected through disinvestment is utilised, he said, "The fund doesn't go to the government. HPTDC spends it in promoting Himachal as a destination in the world tourism scene, uplifting the life of the locals, repair and maintenance work and funding voluntary retirement scheme of disinvested projects. For instance, from Rs 40 lakh lease fee, Rs 12 lakh is paid annually to the local panchayat for improving the life of the locals."