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Mamuni Das

New Delhi , June 15

The Uppal-Kamath consortium is likely to win the contract to develop the Railways' budget hotel in Vijayawada and Madurai. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) opened the financial bids for these locations on Thursday, Ministry sources said.

Sources indicated that the Uppal-Kamath consortium has submitted the highest bid. However, they declined to comment further as the letter has not been issued to the consortium yet. "We would have to study the bids to ensure there are no discrepancies before issuing the letter," the sources said.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Mr Ramneek Bawa, Group CEO, Uppal Hotels, said the Uppal consortium offered a revenue share of 12.3 per cent for the Madurai hotel, and 15.67 per cent for Vijayawada. The consortium had bid for IRCTC's first lot of budget hotels to be given out on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis for a 30-year period. "We plan to bring up the 3-star hotel in about 18 months of getting all architectural clearances," Mr Bawa said.

Ground rentals

Regarding ground rentals for the hotels, the consortium would pay Rs 21 lakh per year for the Madurai hotel in the first year of getting the contract, and Rs 1.52 crore in the 30th year. For the Vijayawada hotel, the consortium would pay Rs 14 lakh (in the first year) to Rs 1 crore in the 30th year.

The ground rentals would accrue to Indian Railways, while the variable portion — revenue share — would accrue to IRCTC.

The Madurai hotel would have 150 rooms and the Vijayawada hotel, 180 rooms, said Mr Bawa.

The room rates are likely to be Rs 1,500-1,600 per day, said Mr Bawa. The hotels would have Internet café, swimming pool, gymnasium, conference room facilities apart from a restaurant, he added.

More Stories on : Hotels | Railways

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