The Orissa government is likely to invite fresh bids for developing four five-star hotels over 100 acre as a part of its Samuka tourism project by March 2009 due to the lukewarm response from the bidders.

The Samuka tourism project is being developed over an area of about 1,000 acre on the PPP mode at an investment of Rs.3,500 crore. The state government is investing Rs.50-70 crore on providing external infrastructure like electricity and water supply for the five-star hotel properties.

Earlier, eleven bidders were short listed in the pre-bidding process held in September 2008. The short listed payers include both individual as well as joint bidders like Taj Group of Hotels and Resorts, ITC, Park Hotels, Ananda Spa, Emaar MGF with Hyatt, DLF with Hilton, Unitech with Starhood and Zoom Developers with Kamat hotels.

Apart from this, the state government is also going slow on its bidding process for selecting a master developer for the Samuka project due to the ongoing economic slowdown. The master developer was to develop the infrastructure on the remaining 900 acre near Sipasarubali in Puri. The facilities to be developed by the master developer include a convention centre of international standards with a seating capacity of nearly 1,500, an 18-hole golf course, boutique hotels, international spa and wellness centres, an entertainment zone and sports facilities. The selected developer was to develop, design and operate these facilities at the site of the Samuka project. The master developer was to generate revenues either by selling or renting out these facilities.