The Hindu Business Line : Alfred Ford to lay out a ski village

"We hope to get all the permissions by the end of the year and have the first phase of 250-room hotel, ski-lift and other equipment up and running within three years."

New Delhi , Oct. 27

FIRST it was Mr Bill Ford, the top honcho of Ford Motor Company, who announced his company's investment plans for India earlier this week.

Now his cousin, Mr Alfred Ford, is all set to carry forward his more than 30-year bonding with India by setting up a world-class ski facility in Himachal Pradesh.

Both are great grandsons of Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Mr Ford's venture is called the Himalayan Ski Village (HSV).

He told newspersons here today that the venture had submitted the project report to the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh today.

"We hope to get all the permissions by the end of the year and have the first phase of 250-room hotel, ski-lift and other equipment up and running within three years."

Investment: The investment in the first phase has been estimated at $135 million and will eventually reach more than $500 million as the project develops further.

It is proposed to have in excess of 700 five-star hotel rooms, 300 villas, 150 condos numerous shops, restaurants and luxurious spa facilities.

The project has already seen some leading global hotel groups including the Mandarin Oriental, Hyatt International, Intercontinental, Ananda Resort in the Himalaya show an interest in managing and marketing the property.

Job creation: The proposed project will help create more than 3,000 jobs in the first phase alone and provide a host of benefits to the State Government, officials connected with the project said.

"The major benefit for the State government will be through the taxes that they will collect from the project and also from the power that they sell to us," an official said.

When asked whether the tax being imposed by the State government would deter tourists from coming, Mr Ford said: "It is a luxury to be there. So you may as well pay the tax. In fact I still find India to be a bargain."

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