New Delhi, Oct. 3: East India Hotels (EIH), the owner of the Oberoi chain, is planning to come up with its second property in Gurgaon by 2009.

It will be built on an 18-acre plot owned by Orbit Resorts, which has Sukhbir Singh Badal as a promoter. Sukhbir is an MP and the son of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Orbit Resorts was caught in a controversy over this plot when the comptroller and auditor general had pointed out that the land was allotted at a concessional rate without any notice for sale. The matter went to courts, and the plot was given back to the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation, the original owner.

However, in 1989, when Om Prakash Chautala succeeded Bansi Lal as chief minister of Haryana, the plot was given back to Sukhbir. Orbit Resorts has already built the Trident Hilton on a seven-acre portion of this plot. It is now planning the 200-room property on the remaining 11 acres.

This hotel will be managed by EIH under the Oberoi brand, said an EIH source. “It will be a 200-room hotel. Architects have been flown down from Singapore, while the interiors are being done by another Singapore-based company,” said the source.

Scheduled to be operational by October 2009, the hotel will see an investment of about $100 million. “The hotel will sport a modern contemporary design and will meet the technical specifications of the Oberoi group,” sources said.

Gurgaon has recently seen a spate of investments from various hospitality majors. One of them is Four Seasons. It has tied up with DLF’s hospitality arm, DLF Hotels. This 230-room hotel is expected to be ready before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The Four Seasons in Mumbai is scheduled to open by the end of this year.

Leela Palaces and Resorts is set to open the Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon. This will have 319 rooms and suites along with 90 apartments.