The JW Marriott and Holiday Inn hotels, which Emaar MGF is bringing on EM Bypass

The state tourism department has inked two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Emaar MGF and Sinclairs Hotels, which will together invest Rs 2,200 crore over the next five years.

Realty major Emaar MGF Land Ltd, which is developing three five-star luxury hotels in the city, will add a string of budget hotels and a resort in the Sunderbans, committing Rs 1,200 crore in the hospitality sector. It will also invest Rs 800 crore in integrated townships in Bengal.

City-based Sinclairs Hotels pledged Rs 200 crore in various hospitality projects in the state over the next five years, including a hotel management institute in Panagarh. Both the private firms signed the MoUs with the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) and the Sunderbans Infrastructure Development Corporation.

“We are happy to have these companies work with us and their projects collectively will create direct employment opportunities for at least 22,000 people,” state tourism minister Manab Mukherjee said at the signing ceremony last Saturday.

Mahindra Holidays has already committed Rs 200 crore in three resort properties, to be developed over the next two years in the Sunderbans, the Dooars and either Digha or Mandarmani. Talks are on with a fourth private player, WBTDC managing director T.V.N. Rao said.

Emaar MGF is bringing in JW Marriott and Holiday Inn to the EM Bypass, with 500 keys between them, and developing a third luxury hotel, a Park Hyatt, on Russell Street, also having 250 rooms. All these hotels are expected to be ready in three years, according to Sanjiv Rai, the chief operating officer (hospitality) of Emaar MGF Land.

It will also develop 12 budget and mid-rung hotels in the state in tie-ups with Accor and Premier Inn. An eco-tourism resort hotel in the Sunderbans is also on the cards.

Sinclairs, which already operates three properties in north Bengal, will set up a spa in Chalsa, serviced apartments in Siliguri, a business hotel in Salboni, a golf resort in north Bengal, an “eco-friendly ethnic” resort in Jharkhali in the Sunderbans, and a resort hotel in Kalimpong.

The company is also scouting for land for a three-star business hotel in Calcutta and a hotel management school in Panagarh.