Often accused of doing less than its full potential for promoting art and culture, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts has now taken another step back from its mandate by allowing a part of its prestigious campus near Rajpath to be turned into a private 24-room boutique hotel.

The Indravan, already open to select customers, will be formally launched in September. Room rates start at Rs. 8,500. Full occupancy – a near certainty given the prime location and shortage of rooms in Delhi – will bring in approximately Rs. 70 lakh every month. In return, the hotel's promoters need to pay IGNCA only Rs. 10 lakh per month.

Occupying a prime location over 23 acres at 1, Janpath – minutes away from the National Museum and India Gate — the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts was established in 1987 as a centre for research, academic pursuit and dissemination in the field of the arts. The autonomous institution originally came under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development; today, it is under the Union Ministry of Culture.

A quarter of a century after opening, the Centre's academic and cultural activities remain at a low level. And its premises are now being used to host the Indravan hotel, run by Sewara Hospitality and Development. The group also runs the Lodi Garden Restaurant in Delhi, apart from resorts in Rajasthan and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Sewara claims it has the marketing rights to run the Indravan hotel on government land for the next five years. However, according to the IGNCA Trust Deed signed between by the Centre's trustees and the Government of India, the land was given to IGNCA on a lease of 99 years for purely cultural and academic activities.

Under the sub-head “Use of Trust Fund”, the Deed clearly says: “The income and property of the Trust, howsoever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Trust.” The objects listed in the Trust include research in arts, humanities and cultural heritage, creating tribal and folk art collections, bridging modern and traditional art forms, developing linkages with international art and culture centres, and serving as a resource centre and forum on Indian art, and producing an encyclopaedia on the subject. Nowhere do the Trust's objectives allow for commercial activity such as a hotel.

The IGNCA seems to be exploiting a loophole in the Trust Deed which only prevents its property from being leased for a period of more than ten years. Under the sub-head ‘Disposal of the IGNCA Property', the Deed says: “No immovable property (such as land and buildings) of IGNCA shall be sold, leased for a term exceeding 10 years or given out on hire or otherwise disposed of by the Trust without the prior written approval of the Government of India.”

Given these rules, the Memorandum of Understanding signed by IGNCA and Aresko Estates representative Inderpal Singh Kochchar, who is the managing director of Aresko's subsidiary company, Sewara, on July 1, 2010 only refers to the “IGNCA guest house.”

It gives Sewara the job of “managing, running, operation and maintenance of the guest house” of IGNCA and makes it clear that Sewara will not be allowed to use this “guest house” for marriage or birthday functions, commercial functions, functions which may cause noise or those which don't get clearance from IGNCA. The MOU says the “guest house” may be used by Sewara for “meetings of national and international societies, conferences of national and international standards, small gatherings of art and culture or associated professional clubs, and art exhibitions and related functions.”

However, on >www.sewara.com, the Indravan is clearly termed a “boutique hotel”, not an “IGNCA guest house” and there is no mention that potential guests need to be part of any conference or meeting. Online reservations are open, and the hotel has been listed on international travel reservation and review sites. It also offers three conference rooms and eight committee rooms as business spaces, which may violate the explicit “no commercial functions” clause of the MoU.

“The grand opening of the property, which is now ready, will happen during the first week of September,” confirms Sewara Group representative Premjith Endassary. He says unknown “guests on special references who couldn't be refused” have already been staying there frequently. For the ordinary public, however, rooms will be available after the inauguration. In fact, the Sewara website seems to be allowing bookings only from October 1.

The building in which the Indravan is located used to be the “Scholars' Residency” meant for academics attending IGNCA functions, and was turned into a guest house a few years ago. Now it has undergone a complete internal design makeover to transform it into The Indravan, even while the exterior remains the same.

The standard, deluxe and suite are called the Harappa, Mughal and Golden Era rooms respectively, with furnishings and decor to match the art and culture of that particular period in Indian history. The daily tariffs have been fixed at Rs. 8,500, Rs. 10,500 and Rs. 15,000 respectively. A club room and multicuisine restaurant on the premises will also be operated by Sewara.

The rate card itself seems to violate the MoU signed with IGNCA, which stipulated tariffs of Rs. 3,800, Rs. 4,200 and Rs. 5,000 for the three types of rooms.

Sewara has agreed to some concessions to cater for IGNCA needs. Under the MoU, IGNCA will have access to the hotel's rooms at 40 per cent of the tariff rate for up to 50 days every year.

IGNCA joint secretary Pyare Lal – who is an appointee of the Union government – initially denied the existence of a hotel on IGNCA grounds. “IGNCA is a trust on the government property, how can a hotel come up there? There is no question of a commercial activity happening there. IGNCA is a research and cultural activity institution. Even if we run a hotel here, we will be at a risk because we will not get tax exemption on this land. We have nothing to hide. There is no ‘hotel' being run within the premises of IGNCA,” he asserted.

When presented with specifics by The Hindu, he backtracked, saying that he had joined IGNCA only six months ago and still does not understand all the rules and regulations. In a subsequent email, he admitted: “There is a Guest House Block in the IGNCA which is a part and parcel of the overall Building Plan of IGNCA. It is not yet operational. It consists of 24 rooms … IGNCA, being an organization with no experience in operating and maintaining a Guest House, decided to invite Expression of Interest through newspapers (dated 16.10.2009) from the eligible entities/vendors/operators for management, maintenance, operation and running of the Guest House Block of IGNCA. The job was entrusted to one M/s. Aresko Estates Pvt. Ltd. [that is, Sewara's parent company] who was the successful bidder after completion of the entire process and evaluation by a duly constituted committee.”

Mr. Lal said the handing over the “guest house” to Sewara was not a problem since the IGNCA's current activities did not pose a “substantial” requirement for rooms. “The Guest House Block containing 24 rooms has been designed as part of the overall … complex of 8 buildings, including Concert Hall, National Theatre, etc. At present, only one building … has been completed. Therefore, the present requirement of rooms is not substantial and the optimum utilization can be achieved only after all the remaining buildings … have been constructed and made operational”.

But even if the Sewara lease is “temporary”, former Additional Secretary Basant Kumar — who has been associated with IGNCA since its inception — alleges that the Delhi Master Plan does not allow for a hotel on the IGNCA premises. Kapila Vatsayayan, a founding trustee of IGNCA who worked to build the institution to its academic and cultural zenith in the late 1980s, moans about its decline from those glory days. “I was thrown out of IGNCA by police forces eleven years ago so I don't go there anymore. I can only say that the Trust Deed doesn't allow any commercial activity on its premises,” she says.

Curiously, the current trustees also seem to have been kept in the dark about the commercial activity on the premises. “I don't know what is (The) Indravan at IGNCA,” says Chinmaya Gharekhan, president of the Board of Trustees. “As far as I know, The Indravan is not a hotel. It was modelled on India International Centre in its soul,” says another IGNCA trustee, Salman Haider.

Citing “legal” issues, Sewara MD I.S. Kocchar and the public relations agency representing him declined to answer questions. A few days after The Hindu started working on the story, the signboard displaying the hotel's name at the IGNCA was quietly removed. Its absence today is a hint that everything is not above board.