Oberoi said the West Bengal government, in particular, and the Union government, in general, are not doing much to boost tourism.

Speaking to reporters after EIH's 50th annual general meeting on Wednesday, Oberoi said that while places like Jaipur, Udaypur and Agra are becoming increasingly interesting tourist destinations, the market in West Bengal has stagnated due to the nonchalance of the state government.

"One of the reasons why we are not planning to expand in this zone now is that there is particularly no demand for more hotels here," he said.

Four days ago, EIH signed a contract with Punjab chief minister's son Sukhbir Singh Badal to manage a 150-room hotel in Gurgaon.

"This is the kind of place that we would look at for business promotion," Oberoi said. "MNCs like Coca-Cola and General Electric have their headquarters at Gurgaon."

After Mumbai, EIHL is also starting operations in Pune and New Delhi with its Trident group of hotels.

Oberoi complained that while the government claims that foreign tourist inflow in India has been increasing over the months, there is hardly any endeavour to attract high-end tourists.

"Would you believe that even foreign tourists pay Rs 2,000-2,200 per night in our Trident hotels?" asked Oberoi.

This, he claimed, is one of the main reasons behind the company's lower profits in the current fiscal. For the year ended March 31, 2000, the company reported a net profit of Rs 72.5 crore compared with Rs 96.4 crore the previous year, a 25 per cent fall.

"The government must realise that tourism promotion can even accelerate the country's economic growth with its huge employment potential," said Oberoi.He proposed a "Tourism Vision for India 2020" which should aim at employing at least five crore people in the travel and tourism industry and attracting at least four crore international visitors.

EIH net profit rises28% to Rs 16.6 cr
Despite adverse tourism conditions, EIH has reported a net profit of Rs 16.67 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2000, which is a 28 per cent growth over the net profit of Rs 12.97 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

"The profit of the first quarter in hospitality industries is usually the lowest," said PRS Oberoi, managing director. "If the trend continues, we should end up with a 30-35 per cent profit increase in 2000-2001."

Explaining the 25 per cent decrease in profits in the year ended March 31, 2000, compared with the previous year, Oberoi cited stagnant market conditions due to the Kargil conflict, economic uncertainties and general elections last year, as well as higher employee and energy costs, increased interest and depreciation burdens, and cost of voluntary separations for rationalising manpower levels.