Punjab assembly panel recommends vigilance probe into sale of PTDC tourist complexes

CHANDIGARH: A Punjab assembly committee has recommended a vigilance bureau probe into the sale of eight tourist complexes of Punjab Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) that were sold to private parties in 2006-07 under the disinvestment policy of the state govt.The recommendation was made by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Committee on Public Undertakings (2025-26) in its 127th Report on the General Working of the PTDC Limited. The report was tabled during the recently held budget session of the Punjab assembly. Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Bathinda Urban constituency Jagroop Singh Gill is the chairman of the committee.The eight tourist complexes mentioned in the report were sold for a total price of Rs 32.96 crore, as per the reply received from the PTDC.Gulmohar Tourist Complex, Pathankot, was purchased by Jaipal Goyal of Kapurthala for Rs 5.25 crore; Marigold Tourist Complex, Sanghol, was bought by New Delhi-based M/S Cordia Hotel Private Limited for Rs 1.8 cr; Gardenia Tourist Complex, Kapurthala, went to Pawan Kumar Aggarwal of Kapurthala for Rs 1.5 crore; and Kaner Tourist Complex, Moga, was purchased by Chand Singh Johal of Moga for Rs 4.25 crore.Coral Tourist Complex, Madhopur, was bought by by New Delhi-based Coral River Resorts Private Limited MD Uttam Chand for Rs 7.01 crore; Kachnar Tourist Complex, Shambhu, was purchased by Pawan Kumar and Rajiv Goyal of Panchkula for Rs 2.91 crore; Sukhchain Tourist Complex, Jalandhar, was sold to Mehrauli-based Sudhir Dhingra for Rs 7.23 cr; and Lajwanti Tourist Complex, Hoshiarpur, was purchased by New Delhi-based M/S Inderprastha Machine Tools Private Limited for Rs 3.01 crore.The Vidhan Sabha Committee wanted to know the names and locations of the eight tourist complexes in question; reasons for selling these; whether these facilities were incurring losses and, if yes, what the reasons for the losses were and whether any action was taken by the Tourist Development Corporation.The committee also wanted to know how much income was received from each tourist complex and where it was invested. It further wanted to know the position of these complexes before sale — whether these were in loss, and if so, why. It also sought to know who issued the orders for closing these complexes and what the reasons were. The panel also sought to know the terms and conditions of sale under the disinvestment policy and if these were approved by the Board and who issued the final orders.As per the committee report, in its reply, the PTDC stated: "Due to continuous losses of the PTDC, the above-mentioned eight properties were disinvested by the Disinvestment Directorate of the Finance Department, Govt of Punjab. However, no information regarding the reasons for losses of these complexes is available in office records."It stated that the amount received from the sale of these eight tourist complexes was utilised by the PTDC, with the approval and directions of the finance department, for "payment of VRS benefits and other liabilities of PTDC staff; advance payment of capital gains tax on sale; payment of capital gains tax; repayment of loans to the Punjab govt; and for creation of a corpus fund for Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board".The reply also stated: "The disinvestment of these complexes was carried out as per the decisions of the cabinet sub-committee on disinvestment and the terms and conditions laid down by the Disinvestment Directorate of the Punjab govt."The committee discussed the reply and recommended that the matter be investigated by the vigilance department.