The Ashoka Hotel, owned by ITDC, in Jaipur
Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam today said 14 out of 16 loss-making hotels owned by state-run ITDC will be sold off to private parties as running money-making hotel business is not a government job.
The minister, however, said that he wished to retain the prestigious Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi under government control and make it a "very good" international hotel in the national capital.
"It has been decided to sell off 14 hotels owned by ITDC as running money-making businesses like hotels are not good for a government. The decision to sell off the hotels was taken much earlier."
"One or two hotels will be retained under government control...I have a wish...to retain Ashoka hotel in New Delhi under government control and make it a very good international hotel," the minister told a meet-the-press programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here.
India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is a public sector undertaking that currently runs 16 hotels in Delhi, Patna, Jammu, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Bhopal, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Guwahati, Mysore, Puducherry and Itanagar.
Mr Kannanthanam also said steps would be taken to open high-end restaurants and provide better amenities at important tourist attractions like Qutub Minar as it was necessary to attract more foreign tourists to the country.