BNR Hotel in Ranchi: Paving way for others

Ranchi, Jan. 1: Keeping aside the continuing political instability, hotel operators believe that destination Ranchi would soon be a hotspot for business growth.

It shouldn’t be surprising that 91-year-old Bengal Nagpur Railway Hotel, popularly known as BNR, came at a costlier price for Sujata Hotel Private Limited, than its counterpart in Puri, which is a national tourist destination.

Sujata, owner of the four-star Chanakya hotel in Patna, bagged the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) contract to maintain and operate the hotels for 15 years, as it was the highest bidder.

The group will pay Rs 15.45 crore and Rs 7.18 crore as licence fee for BNR Ranchi and Puri, respectively.

A senior IRCTC official said Chanakya would also be making an investment of Rs 7.18 crore in Ranchi and around Rs 2.5 crore in Puri for redeveloping the two “rail ratna” brand hotels, presently running at a loss.

Besides Sujata, Deenanath Hotel Limited from Ranchi, also participated in the bid.

The area under BNR Ranchi’s occupation is, however, larger than that at Puri, though the former has only 17 rooms as compared to the latter’s 34 rooms.

Vijay Kochar, the director of Chanakya hotel, said the Ranchi property was costlier as the city happened to be the state capital.

“The utilisation factor would be better in Ranchi and therefore, the scope for running a hotel in the city is better,” he said, adding: “We see a huge business growth in Jharkhand in the near future.”

Kochar believes the banquet and conference hall facility would be an added attraction for the people in the state capital. “On the other hand, in Puri we can bank on seasonal tourists,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Taj Group, which has decided to construct budget hotels, has not been sanctioned land as yet, though the cabinet had cleared the proposal to hand over the IG’s residence in South Chhotanagpur to it three months ago.

Tourism secretary S.K. Chaudhary said the proposal is pending on the district administration level, which has to sign the lease agreement with the Taj group for the transfer of land.

He added that though they receive proposals for setting up hotels, finding prime locations poses to be a problem.

Chandra Mohan Kapoor, the proprietor of Chinar Hotel, said they would be setting up a five-star hotel in the city very soon. “The new hotel is under construction in Kokar,” Kapoor said.