As part of the disinvestment exercise, the Centre on Wednesday decided to exit three India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) hotels, including Jaipur Ashok, and hand them over to the state governments concerned.
The Union Cabinet approved the transfer of Hotel Jaipur Ashok and Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, Mysuru, to the governments of Rajasthan and Karnataka, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
It also cleared disinvestment of ITDC’s 51 per cent equity in Donyi Polo Ashok, Itanagar, in favour of Arunachal Pradesh, he said.
Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaitley said that as according to the valuation, the Jaipur property would fetch the Centre Rs 14 crore, Mysore Rs 7.45 crore and Itanagar Rs 3.89 crore This is according to the disinvestment policy of the Government of India wherein ITDC Hotels and properties are to be leased or sub-leased jointly with states, he said.
The policy has been formulated in line with the view that running and managing hotels is not the job of the government or its entities.
In addition, the ‘in-principle’ approval for transfer of Hotel Janpath, New Delhi, to the Ministry of Urban Development, has also been accorded by the CCEA.
Following the Cabinet move, the shares of ITDC on Wednesday zoomed nearly 17 per cent. The stock soared 16.43 per cent to settle at Rs 577.45 on the BSE. Intra-day, it jumped 19.99 per cent to Rs 595.10.