The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation would now be managing a government-owned property outside its native state, Karnataka. The Government and the Department of Personnel and Administrative Services (DPAR) has given the opportunity of managing the Karnataka Bhavan-3 located in Delhi to KSTDC.
The Managing Director of KSTDC, Kumar Pushkar has said in an interview with the TNIE that many meetings and discussions were held and the progression of work at the KKGH was assessed. Based on these and on the recommendation of the state government as well as the chief secretary, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) agreed to hand over the building to KSTDC.
The rates for staying at this building is very cheap compared to other government-owned lodges or hotels. The tariff is 1,000 per person and the best staff from Karnataka are appointed by the KSTDC at the building to ensure it gets the traditional ‘Kannadiga’ touch. All the bookings are done through the DPAR portal as of now but the KSTDC is trying to link the bookings to their portal to make bookings easier.
He also said that the management at the Karnataka Bhavan will be similar to that of KKGH. KSTDC has an agreement of one year with the DPAR according to which, the income from the guest house will go to the DPAR and the expenses borne by KSTDC will be reimbursed by the state government. Karnataka Bhavan will also have a restaurant open to the public that will serve authentic food from Karnataka. KSTDC is also in talks with the DPAR to acquire the other two Karnataka Bhavans in Delhi, however, that will be finalized based on the performance of KSTDC at the Bhavan-3.
Previously, in the KKGH there have been 180 rooms and only a small portion of it has been open to the tourists and the majority was reserved for important guests as well as VIPs. In the Karnataka Bhavan, however, only three rooms are reserved for the state guests and others are open for public bookings.
