The Jharkhand government urged the Centre to complete the transfer of ownership of the iconic Hotel Ashok in Ranchi as soon as possible. This transfer of ownership has been pending for more than 15 months, an official said on Saturday.
The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), on November 24, 2020, had signed an agreement with the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) to transfer its 51 percent stake in the hotel for Rs 10 crore. The official said that Rs 6 crore was for purchasing 25,000 shares and Rs 4 core for outstanding liabilities of this ten crore.
"Since our government came to power, our effort has been to get this hotel under state government's ownership. Despite completing all the formalities, including depositing money, we have not yet got the hotel's ownership," Chief Minister Hemant Soren told the assembly on Friday. "A central minister had told me that he would physically hand over the hotel's key. For this, he needed to do a cabinet meeting. It seems the cabinet meeting did not occur in more than a year. The hotel is turning dilapidated," he added.
ITDC owns 51 percent stake in the hotel, while Bihar Tourism holds 36.5 stakes, and the rest 12.5 percent is with the JTDC. Built on 2.7 acres of prime land at Doranda near the high court, the hotel began operations as a joint venture between ITDC and Bihar Tourism in 1987 when Ranchi was part of undivided Bihar. After Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in November 2000, the new state was given a 12.5 percent share as the land on which the hotel was built became the property of the Jharkhand government.
Jharkhand government expects that the hotel, which has been inoperative since 2018, will play a pivotal role in promoting tourism in the state. A JTDC official said they have already approached the Bihar government for the remaining 36.5 percent stake for total ownership of the hotel. "Bihar has given its consent for it. Once we get the ITDC's shares, we will go for the shares with Bihar Tourism," he said.