In a major disinvestment decision, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for selling government’s stakes in ITDC-run hotels in Bhopal and Guwahati to concerned state governments, who are minority partners in these enterprises. The Centre holds 51 per cent equity in the two business ventures each. The CCEA has also given its nod for returning the ITDC-managed Hotel Bharatpur Ashok to the Rajasthan government, which owns it.
The ITDC runs some 16 hotels at various places across the country. Of these, it fully owns eight while seven are joint ventures (JVs) with state governments.
“The decision on disinvestment has been made keeping in view that running and managing hotels on professional lines is not the work of the government or its entities,” said an official statement. “There has been considerable development in the hospitality sector in the country in past years, with world class hotels and all leading international chains of hotels present in the country and providing services and facilities of highest standards,” it added. States are expected to lease these properties to private players, which would become a source of revenue for them.
Meanwhile, the Union cabinet approved the new steel policy of 2017, which envisages achieving self-sufficiency by raising manufacturing capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 from the current level of about 100 million tonnes. That would entail additional investment of Rs 10 lakh crore in the sector. Under the new policy, the steel ministry will work to ensure availability of raw material like iron ore, coking coal, non-coking coal and natural gas to manufacturers at competitive rates.
The new policy also recognises that MSMEs can play an important role towards achieving the goals set out in the policy. Accordingly, it stipulates use of energy-efficient technologies by MSME in the steel sector in order to improve overall productivity and reduce energy intensity. The cabinet also gave its nod for modifications in the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations on pay and pensionary benefits.
