Agartala, May 21 (UNI) To facilitate the conversion of the historical Pushpabanta Palace in the city into a star category hotel, the Tripura government on Tuesday handed over the land lease agreement to Indian Hotel Company Limited (IHCL), an affiliate of TATA group.
In the presence of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and Tourism Minister Sushanta Choudhury, secretary tourism UK Chakma handed over the documents letting 7.78 acres of the palace on lease for 90 years to IHCL officials in a simple ceremony.
“IHCL will build 100 luxury rooms, including four royal suites, on the land within 3 years,” Chakma informed the gathering, adding that the project was the brainchild of Chief Minister, to scale up tourism to an international standard.
Addressing the gathering, CM Dr Saha said, “Whenever we used to go outside the state, we saw big hotels including those from the Taj Group and used to think when Tripura would get something like this. Now our thought is going to be implemented into reality, and I want the hotel to be functional within two years, not three years.”
Earlier, the state government had signed an MoU with IHCL, and it was decided to give a 30% subsidy on capital investment with a ceiling of Rs 40 crore to IHCL. In addition the investors will receive 100% GST reimbursement with a ceiling of Rs 250 crore for 15 years.
Most of the accommodations will be outside the heritage building, except for a few signature suites housed within the palace for preservation of the royal experience. The IHCL will deposit a lease rental with the tourism department.
Besides, IHCL will grant select privileges to the tourism department, and the investors will recruit staff from within the state as far as practicable, except executive-level staff.
“Since it was a royal property, IHCL will extend 25 25-night rent-free privilege accommodation in the hotel annually for the royal family members for a lifetime,” said an IHCL official, adding that the royal architecture of Tripura will be followed in the construction.
Pushpabanta Palace was built in 1917 as a holiday home for the then-king and his guests. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore stayed in the palace whenever he visited the state. After statehood, it was converted into the Governor's House.
With the shifting of Governor’s House to New Capital Complex, the government decided on the proper utilization of this palace. According to officials, no such MoU or lease agreement of this type with a state government has happened in the country. Around 200 jobs will be generated from the state.
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