The Himachal High Court has ordered shut down of 18 state-run loss-making hotels to reduce the burden on the government exchequer. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, leading a single-judge bench, directed the closure of 18 hotels owned by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) by November 25. He also held the corporation's Managing Director (MD) personally accountable for ensuring the closure was carried out.

The court called these properties “white elephants". In his order, Justice Goel stated that the continued operation of these properties is a drain on the state exchequer due to their low occupancy rates.

Calling it a burden on state, the court said, “The continuation of functioning of these properties…is nothing but a burden on the exchequer of the State and the court can take judicial notice of the fact that there is a financial crunch which is daily being propagated by the state in the matters being listed before the court involving finance.”

It also added, “To ensure that public resources are not wasted by the Tourism Development Corporation in the upkeep of these white elephants, it is hereby ordered that the following properties of the Tourism Development Corporation shall be closed forthwith w.e.f. 25.11.2024, as running of these properties is not financially viable as of now.”

Earlier this week, the high court ordered the seizure of Himachal Bhavan in Delhi because the Congress-led Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government did not pay electricity dues of approximately Rs 150 crore. The building is located at Mandi House in Delhi.

What the Himachal govt said

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said that the government plans to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. However, there has been no update on how the state plans to manage its debt repayments and control its expenses. In response to the High Court's order, Himachal Pradesh Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi mentioned that if the hotels were not performing well financially, other measures could be considered.

As per the reports of ANI, Revenue Minister Negi said, “The HPTDC hotels were built at a time when the government wanted to encourage tourism. Only after reading the court order, I can say what message we want to give by closing down these hotels. These are properties located at prime locations. If any of these properties are not doing well financially, then we should work on it." He also expressed concern over the potential loss of jobs to people working in the hotels.

The hotels which are going to shut down include Hotel Baghal Dadlaghat, The Palace Hotel Chail, Hotel Geetanjali Dalhousie, Hotel Dhauladhar Dharamshala, Hotel Kunal Dharamshala, Hotel Kashmir House Dharamshala, Hotel Apple Blossom Fagu, Hotel Chandrabhaga Keylong, Hotel Deodar Khajjiar, Hotel Giriganga Kharapathar, Hotel Meghdoot Kyarighat, Hotel Sarvari Kullu, Hotel Log Huts Manali, Hotel Hadimba Cottage Manali, Hotel Kunjum Manali, Hotel Bhagsu McLeodganj, Hotel The Castle Naggar Kullu, and Hotel Shivalik Parwanoo.