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Haryana ready with 7,000 rooms for Games

Chandigarh: Haryana is chipping in with nearly 7,000 rooms for India’s showpiece event, the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, which is expected to see over 150,000 visitors but preparations for which are running woefully behind schedule.

The rooms being offered by Haryana will be in the National Capital Region.

“The Centre had demanded 10,000 rooms from Haryana Tourism in the NCR region for the Commonwealth Games. About 7,000 rooms are ready and the remaining will be built up by 2009-end,” Tourism and Sports Minister Kiran Chaudhary said.

Hotel industry experts put the requirement during the Games at over 30,000 rooms. Most of these will be in the budget hotel category. The host city at present has arrangements for just over 10,000 rooms.

“The Indian government has sanctioned a sum of Rs.360 million to Haryana Tourism in the current financial year for upgradation of upgrading tourism infrastructure”she said.

Haryana even proposes to bring in a legislation to adopt the Government of India’s ‘Bed and Breakfast’ (B&B) scheme on the Delhi pattern.

“With the formulation of a tourism policy by the Haryana government, it would not be difficult for us to meet the demand for rooms and provide ample earning opportunities for people in the State.”

The B&B scheme, evolved by the Delhi government last year, involves residents having properties and facilities in Delhi to lodge tourists coming from abroad and other States as paying guests within a regulated framework.

Residents of NCR areas in Haryana will be able to offer similar facilities at affordable rates, tourism officials say.

Over half of the existing 800 hotel rooms in Haryana’s NCR areas are being upgraded, Ms. Chaudhary said.

The national capital will have five new stadiums and a Games village for the Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in October.

The Games are expected to cost India Rs.40 billion with much of the cost to be footed by the central government. — IANS

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Haryana ready with 7,000 rooms for Games

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