Several leading hospitality groups have evinced keen interest to set up different category hotels in and around Bhubaneswar, the Puri-Konark belt or other places in Odisha.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Golden Jubilee Convention of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), LN Gupta, principal secretary, department of tourism, Government of Odisha said, “Lemon Tree, Haldiram’s and Brahmaputra from India and The New Port Group of the US have shown keen interest in Odisha. We have given them the land bank that is available with us from Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) and have asked them to officially send their detailed proposals to the State Government through the single-window clearance system.”

During the FHRAI Convention, Gupta made a detailed presentation on the State’s tourism strengths and potential and initiatives taken by the Government to promote investment opportunities in the state. The tourism secretary said that a ‘State-level Facilitation Cell (SLFC) has been formed by the Government for timely approval of hotel projects and several licenses, speedy resolution of all project related issues and redressal of grievances of stakeholders.

Gupta claimed that the ‘Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) 2015’ unveiled recently is the best in the country and offers a bouquet of sops and incentives to the entrepreneurs to set up tourism-related projects in the state. In the IPR, it is mentioned that the State Government would not levy luxury tax on new hotel properties.

State industries secretary, Sanjeev Chopra who also addressed the hoteliers reiterated the State Government’s commitment to provide all-out support and cooperation to the entrepreneurs. “The State Government now accords time-bound approval to projects, so that hoteliers face no problems. For ‘Green’ and ‘eco-friendly’ projects the approval time is 15 days,” Chopra said.

Chopra said that with a view to make project approvals more professional and business-friendly, members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and FICCI have been made members of the SLFC, which facilitates the setting up of new ventures in the state.

Meanwhile, ITC Fortune Park Hotels, a wholly owned susidiary of ITC Limited is all set to develop a 100-room luxury hotel, near the Bhubaneswar airport. Speaking with Food & Hospitality World Suresh Kumar, managing director, Fortune Park Hotels said, “We have already acquired six-acres parcel of land from the State Government for the project and is in the process of appointing a consultant for the project. The project is likely to be completed within three years from the date of commencement of the construction work.”

The ITC Fortune project is likely to cost around INR120 crore and would be the third five-star luxury property in the city after Mayfair Lagoon and Trident, which together have 200 rooms. The announcement by ITC Fortune attaches significance in view of the state’s growing profile as a big-time tourist destination and convention venue.