Such a waste!

A 410-room hotel in the heart of Delhi could be ‘just the thing’ for a market where room rents could go up to $1,000 (Rs 40,000) a night. If not for legal disputes, that is. Ramada Plaza, previously an ITDC property called Hotel Indraprastha and sold in 2002 by the Centre for Rs 45 crore to a company called Moral Trading Investment, represents such a waste. The control of the hotel has been a subject of legal dispute between R.P. Mittal, the main promoter of Moral Trading, on one side, and Malaysia-based Hillcrest Realty, the main foreign investor in Hotel Queen Road Pvt. Ltd (the ‘special purpose vehicle’ that now owns the property), on the other. Mittal, also Chairman of Hotel Queen Road, claims to have already spent over Rs 100 crore on renovation and re-furnishing, but Hillcrest, a preference shareholder, and Mittal’s brother Ashok, have accused him of “illegally” increasing the authorised capital of the company and his shareholding. The fight is being played out in Delhi High Court. Meanwhile, the ready-to-open Ramada Plaza hangs fire.

— Kapil Bajaj