Harsh Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia group, along with Puneet Chhatwal, the managing director and chief executive officer of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, unveiled their latest hotel, Taj Ganga Kutir Resort and Spa, at Raichak in South 24-Parganas on Friday.
“My great-grandfather had a house in Chitrakoot a little away from the Mandakini. All our family members had homes along the Ganga. I felt I should not be left behind,” Harsh Neotia said at a news conference at the Taj Ganga Kutir. “All of them had modest homes. I wanted to build something as vast as the Ganga that flows along Raichak. Over the last three decades, this project has metamorphosed into a mighty project.”
The 60-acre property that Neotia had purchased in the late ’80s has now expanded to 100 acres with 155 rooms including 30 duplex suites, with lagoon and central swimming pool (Anayavasla and Sundervasla) and the remaining rooms in Ffort and Mahavasla (this one is on the river), and the Taj brand of restaurants, at just over 53 kms from the state capital of Kolkata, the home of the Ambuja Neotia group.
Harsh Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia group, with Puneet Chhatwal, the managing director and chief executive officer of the Indian Hotels Company Limited
The Taj Ganga Kutir underwent many structural and name changes since the first property, then under a different name came up in 1997. The Ambuja Neotia group has already spent Rs 300 crore, and another Rs 50 crore will be pumped in to bring the four previous hotels under the one brand of Taj Ganga Kutir.
“I have built hotels all along the Ganges, from Rishikesh to Raichak. For me Ganga is the most special. It nourishes life in a way that nothing else does. For some, Taj Ganga Kutir may be a space for relaxation, enjoyment, wedding, celebrations. I also hope the mighty river helps them to connect with their inner self. Personally, I have spent the best time just watching the river flow by,” Neotia said.
‘I have built hotels all along the Ganges, from Rishikesh to Raichak. For me Ganga is the most special. It nourishes life in a way that nothing else does,’ Harsh Neotia said
The Taj group’s signature restaurants, like the House of Ming, Machan, and three other food and beverage outlets, have opened at the resort.
“We expect to add two-three more in the next six months. Taj Ganga Kutir will be a gourmet destination… not simply food, great food,” Neotia said.
A fantastic tale was shared with architect Prabir Mitra to visualise a concept for the hotel. That, of a fort during the Raj days, abandoned by the garrison in the early decades of the last century and bombed by the Japanese during the Second World War, left a heap of rubble.
“That was the idea behind the fort. This is, of course, fiction,” said Neotia. “The construction of the hotel carries a piece of history. The bricks are from the old State Bank of India building on Strand Road, which was originally the palace of Siraj-ud-Daulah. When the SBI’s new building was coming up, we got the bricks. The bricks that you see here are 200 years old.”
For the present reconstruction, Kolkata-based architect Vivek Rathore, and Delhi-based Studio Lotus and Mumbai-based landscape architect Samir Mathur were roped in
The Taj Ganga Kutir today is an amalgamation of art, aesthetics, innovative architecture with maximum exposure to the Ganga.
For the present reconstruction, Kolkata-based architect Vivek Rathore, and Delhi-based Studio Lotus and Mumbai-based landscape architect Samir Mathur were roped in.
The late Sri Lankan artist Ena De Silva’s batik art was used for the ceiling at the Machan and also Kolkata’s own Shamlu Dudeja with her Kantha work.
The Taj Ganga Kutir underwent many structural and name changes since the first property, then under a different name came up in 1997
“There are 600-700 pieces of art,” said Neotia.
In the three decades that the earlier hotel had existed, over 200 locals were employed. For over one-and-half years, about 230-odd individuals were trained by the Taj group.
“All of us underwent training for over a year,” said an employee who comes from another town in the district and has been working for over six years.
Of the 340-employees, about two-third are local.
The Taj Ganga Kutir today is an amalgamation of art, aesthetics, innovative architecture with maximum exposure to the Ganga
“In 2021, we at IHCL had said that by 2025, we will have 25 hotels in West Bengal. We are at 24 today. We will get the 25th hotel soon,” said Chhatwal. “By 2030, we expect to have another 10 more hotels in Bengal. For the East and Northeast regions, we had set a target of 50 hotels by 2025, 40 have been achieved. By 2030 we want to take it to 75.”
The single-lane Diamond Harbour road is the major impediment in making Raichak a major tourist attraction. The two-hour-30-minute journey could stretch to four or five hours depending on the congestion in the densely populated mofussil towns en route, like Amtala and Sarisha.
A room at the property
“Road infrastructure is improving throughout the country. We hope the same will happen here. We will have to see what we can do to give it a push,” said Chhatwal.
Both the Taj and Ambuja Neotia are weighing the option of taking the river route to reach Raichak.
“We are exploring the idea of high-speed boats to bring down the current travel time by half via the river route from the four hours it takes now. It would be lovely if the experience of Taj Ganga Kutir starts from stepping into the boat,” Chhatwal said.