Allotment of land at Gulmarg to be made on line of Taj Hotel auction

SRINAGAR: The allotment of prime land at Kashmir’s picturesque ski resort, Gulmarg will now be made on the lines the Taj Hotel auction was carried out on the Man Singh Road in the national capital city.

“The government headed by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi believes in providing a level playing field to everybody without any fear or favour.

“The leases of prime land in Gulmarg in J&K have in almost all cases expired.There are multiple incidents of sub-letting by the original lessees.This has created a legal problem for the present occupiers.

“Once a lawful lessee parts with the possession of the leased land, the land reverts back to the owner (which is state in this case).

“In the auction process of Taj Hotel at Man Singh Road in Delhi nobody, including the Tatas were favoured in any way.

“To ensure that the present occupiers are not deprived of any lawful right, the bidding process would be transparent and open to public scrutiny,” top sources said.

Same sources said, “Leases of all the hotels at Gulmarg with one exception have otherwise also expired.Continuing the present position would be illegal and also unfair to even the present hotel owners.

“Hospitality industry has to follow a protocol.Unlawful operations entail legal implications for both the lessor (J&K government) and the lessee, the present occupiers”.

After the disclosure that the future leases in Gulmarg will strictly be carried out as was the auction of Taj Hotel on Man Singh Road by Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) requires an understanding of how the Man Singh Road auction was unique from other auction processes.

“In Man Singh Road auction, revenue was not calculated primarily on the cost of the land that went under the hammer. The revenue generated as room rent by the Hotel was also calculated and the successful bidder had to share a portion of room revenue also with the licensor,” sources revealed.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in Jammu today, J&K Lt.Governor, Manoj Sinha said the Land Grants Rules 2022 have brought the UT at par with the rest of the country.

“I want to assure you that no poor man allotted land would lose his piece of land when these rules are implemented.It is the few big businessmen who have occupied huge pieces of land illegally who are crying.

“They definitely will lose their monopoly on government lands,” the Lt.Governor said. (Agencies)