SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and the Aura Hotels and Resorts Private Limited are running against time to complete the much-delayed Crowborough Hotel by September this year failing which the company would have to pay Rs 424.945 lakh to the corporation.
A senior official of the MTDC requesting anonymity told The Shillong Times that the incomplete hotel was leased to Leslee Shylla and he entered into
an SPV agreement with Aura Hotels and Resorts Private Limited for its construction. The hotel, whose construction had remained stalled for decades, finally saw work resume since the last couple of years and now its deadline for completion is September 2020.
Officials also said that as per the bar chart schedule, not a single component of the 100-room hotel should remain incomplete in September.
According to them, Aura Hotels and Resorts Private Limited has taken a loan of Rs 45 crore frm the Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation Limited for the project and the MTDC along with other parties would conduct a joint inspection next week. The progress is being reviewed every month.
Initially, Aura Hotels and Resorts Private Limited had tied up with Novotel to manage the project, but later they signed another agreement with Indian Hotels Co. Ltd, a Tata enterprise, which would manage the hotel after completion.
The officials said work was going on in full swing. Wall plastering and laying of tiles are almost complete in many of the rooms while air-conditioning is ready on the first floor. The project, which is hanging fire for the last 36 years, is a big challenge for MTDC chairman Sanbor Shullai, who is keen to see it completed during his tenure at the helm.
Crowborough Hotel was first conceptualised way back in 1985. Although it was supposed to be opened in 1988, the project got delayed due to various reasons.
The state government had first awarded the project to SA Builders in 1987 at a total estimated cost of Rs 2.6 crore and 20 months was given to complete the it from the date of allotment. The government had to scrap the agreement with the firm in June 1989 for its inability to complete the project within the stipulated time. The government then awarded the project to Astra Construction Limited at an estimated cost of Rs 2.65 crore on February 19, 1993. The firm was given 15 months to complete the project.The government again had to scrap the agreement with Astra Construction Limited on September 30 ,1996 after the company failed to meet the deadline.
The hotel was finally leased out to Lessly Shylla, a coal trader from Jaintia Hills, on May 28, 2008 for 33 years.
