Several hotels put on sale in Kashmir as financial crisis deepens

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Ziraat Times
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By Nadeem Mujtaba and Ambreen Khan (Ziraat Times) 

Srinagar: In a seemingly  unprecedented development that has alarmed stakeholders across Jammu & Kashmir’s tourism industry, a large number of hotels and hospitality properties have been listed for sale in Srinagar and other tourist hubs last week — raising serious concerns about the economic sustainability of the new entrants with large bank loans in the region’s hospitality sector.

Over the past weekend alone, at least seven high-value hotels and guesthouses — most located in prime tourist areas like Boulevard Road, Nishat, Rajbagh, Sonwar, Wazir Bagh, and even Sonmarg — have been quietly put on the market, property dealers who are looking for buyers informed Ziraat Times. These properties range from luxury hotels with swimming pools and gyms to lakeside cottages with expansive lawns and private parking.

Among the properties up for sale is a sprawling 6-kanal estate near Dal Lake, with 33 rooms, five cottages, a swimming pool and room for further construction, listed at a staggering Rs 95 crore.

Similarly, a hotel in Rajbagh near the Radisson Hotel, with 35 rooms and extensive facilities, has an asking price of Rs 85 crore.

Another premium lakeside property in Nishat with 18 rooms, staff quarters and dual access points is listed for Rs 30 crore.

A unique hospitality facility in Sonwar featuring 37 rooms, a restaurant, 40-seat cinema, gym, bar and even a wine shop is also up for sale at Rs 45 crore.

Smaller but prime-location hotels — like a 15-room property with a restaurant near Nishat Garden, and a 45-room facility in Wazir Bagh — round out the listings.

This sudden wave of listings is being seen as a signal of deeper financial stress in the hospitality sector, mainly the new entrants facing high competition and bank loan repayment schedules.  Despite record-breaking tourist arrivals over the past year, stakeholders suggest that high operating costs, low off-season occupancy, regulatory uncertainties and inconsistent tourist flows have created unsustainable conditions for these new and high bank credit exposure operators.

“This level of hotel distress sales didn’t occur even during the peak of the insurgency,” said a tourism industry veteran on condition of anonymity. “It is a silent crisis. What we are seeing is not just a correction — it’s a distress call for these stressed entrants.”

Experts warn that unless immediate steps are taken to provide fiscal relief and stabilize policy frameworks for stressed and new hoteliers, more such listings could follow, potentially eroding investor confidence in Kashmir’s hospitality economy.

The larger question faced but the sellers and property dealers is who would buy these high value properties.

While a certain group of high net worth buyers from within J&K have been buying such high value properties in recent past, in today’s financial stress, even those buyers are wary in investing in Kashmir, property dealers maintain.

However, others see it more of a normal market phenomenon. Says Nazeer Ahmed Khan, a property dealers, “There is nothing alarming about it. These are high income-generating properties and they offer a great value for money and future business potential. Anyone with the kind of capital required to buy these properties will be in a win-win situation”.

Firdous Ahmed Mir, another hotelier agrees, “It is possible the owners need urgent capital for another project or their bank loans need to be repaid urgently. It can be normal and there is no question why there cannot be buyers around. There are buyers but, may be, it would take some little more time than normal.”

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