Shimla : Peterhof, a premier and popular hotel of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) in Shimla owes Rs 5 million as house tax to the Shimla Municipal Corporation(MC),officials say.
For a while HPTDC and the General Administration Department(GAD) both state run organisations have been squabbling, asking each other to pay the amount to the MC.
Newspaper reports quoted the municipal commissioner Shimla MC A.N.Sharma as saying this decision was taken at a high level meeting on Tuesday and the HPTDC has been ordered to pay the house tax arrears at the earliest.
Most of the sprawling Peterhof hotel is run commercially by HPTDC.The GAD has possession of eight rooms in the building.
Sources say the loss making HPTDC may find it tough coughing up Rs 5 million.
HPTDC has around fifty properties across the state in Shimla, Kullu ,Manali, Dharamsala, Chamba, Mandi, Dalhousie, Rekong Peo, Sarahan, Narkanda, Kasauli, Barog, Solan, Chail among other places.While a few are profit making,most are loss making.The company is also highly overstaffed as well.
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
