Govt to set up 4 hotel management schools

NEW DELHI: To cash in on the booming tourism industry, the government plans to set up four Indian Institutes of Hotel Management in Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Haryana.

The institutes are expected to produce 400 professionals annually. “A proposal to strengthen the existing 22 institutes and infuse funds into them is also being considered,” a senior tourism ministry official said.

While IHM at Dehradun has become functional, funds have been released for setting up IHMs at Chhattisgarh, Jamshedpur and Kurukshetra. IHMs at Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai have been infused with fresh funds. A National Centre for Hotel Management, on the lines of PUSA in Delhi, is also being planned for Bhubaneshwar.

To provide training in the area of tourism, the ministry will also start 400 training programmes. ”This will lead to increase in better quality tourism manpower,” the official said.

rajat.guha@timesgroup.com