PANAJI
Close on the heels of last week's tete-a-tete between Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan and Noel Tata, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held more detailed discussions with the managing director and CEO of the group's hospitality subsidiary Indian Hotels Company Limited (IDCL) Puneet Chhatwal on strategies for the group to create job opportunities and more economic activity in Goa's tourism sector.
Also in the discussions were IHCL executive vice-president (Operations) Prabhat Verma and the group's Goa area director Vincent Ramos.
According to Sawant, the State government is working on the vision of making Goa the "tourism capital of India" and the discussions centred around a road map for the Taj Hospitality Group to initiate so that more tourism economic activity is executed and jobs generated.
He said, he discussed a strategy and road map where the Taj Hospitality Group could play a major role. The chief minister, however, refrained from saying whether any specific project was on the table.
He nonetheless said the State government is seeking big-ticket investment in the sector via the PPP mode.
"We have activated our PPP cell to be receptive to those who want to invest in the hospitality sector," Sawant added.
The Tata Group already has a significant share of Goa's tourism pie. It owns and operates multiple properties in Goa including the iconic Taj Hermitage, Taj hotel and Taj Holiday Village in Sinquerim.
It is also credited with shaping Goa's big leap in the sector back in the early 1980s when it played a crucial role in building infrastructure to help host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) then.
