20 new motels to provide cheaper rooms for Commonwealth Games

The concept of motels, a popular lodging option for tourists in many foreign countries, took off late in Delhi, with the first motel being set up at Chhattarpur in 2002.

Now, in view of the Commonwealth Games, for which a large number of rooms will be required to accommodate the tourist inflow, around 20 new motels are coming up in the NCR region, taking the total number of motels to 37 and increasing the number of available rooms to 2,000 in the city.

Owners of the existing motels, however, say the number of rooms can be increased four times if the restrictions put on the expansion of the establishments were done away with. Motels are built on a minimum area of 2.5 acres but have a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 15, which only allows for the construction of a basement and a one-storey building, with 50 rooms on an average. A lot of space thus goes unused, owners say. A hotel, on the other hand, has an FAR of 225.

“Commonwealth Games is round the corner and we are in constant touch with the Urban Development ministry to increase the FAR of motels to 175 so that the space can be made available for more tourists. However, despite the DDA approving the proposal in April, the Urban Development ministry has not done anything yet,” says Anil Sarin, a motel owner and president of the Motel Welfare Association.

The existing motels cluster near the Airport area but the new ones are being constructed on the Gurgaon-Mehrauli Road, Badarpur-Faridabad road and NH 8, among others. According to a DDA estimate in May this year, seven of the motels are near completion.

Motel owners say that compared to hotels, motels are a cheaper option. Even if the area of construction is increased, there will be no change in the tariffs, they promise. “Not all guests who visit the city during the Commonwealth Games can spend Rs 10,000 a night. Motels cost anywhere between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 and includes all modern amenities,” Sarin adds.

Rohit Gupta, who owns two motels and a hotel in NCR, says many motels were being constructed in the late 90s as at that time the area was catalogued as agricultural land and only construction of the smaller counterparts of hotels were allowed. “But as areas started being demarcated for commercial use, the land was given to building hotels. Motel owners, meanwhile, are still awaiting permission for expansion,” he says.