India Okays Ford's Himalayan Ski Venture

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India Okays Ford's Himalayan Ski Venture

By J.D. O'Connor
June 01, 2006

If the grandson of auto pioneer Henry Ford and the Indian government have their way, the Himalayas will soon join the list of premier ski destinations in a development plan that could add $300 million in foreign investment to India's red-hot tourism industry.

Alfred Ford's Himalayan Ski Village Pvt Ltd. will build 700 five-star rooms, 300 chalets, a handicrafts village and a food court in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. A basement car park will hold 1,000 vehicles and a high-tech gondola will lift 500 passengers every hour to an altitude of 14,000ft above sea level.

Local cabinet officials gave the project the green light this week after imposing restrictions to ensure local laws were obeyed and the rights of the local people observed.

A spokesman for Ford and Himalayan Ski Village said the new resort will begin by holding international skiing tournaments and eventually would aim to host the winter Olympics. Construction will be in keeping with traditional local architecture.

Almost 4 million foreign visitors visited the region last year. Development is expected to create about 3,500 jobs and generate an initial annual revenue of up to 600 million rupees ($13 million) that could jump to 2.5 billion rupees ($54.5 million) in 15 years.

The company cannot sell its property without government permission as rules forbid outsiders owning property.

Although the Himalayas run through northern India and have long been a destination for mountaineers, the country has only one major ski resort, in Gulmarg in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

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Comments

	I hope they do it right. this is a nice place and it would be a shame to see it made into a sort of ski disneyland. I see they intend to keep the flavor of the area intact by preserving local architecture and that makes me feel a little better. There's just so much of this going on these days.
	Posted by: Bill Manhalter \| June 3, 2006 07:40 AM

	A thousand car basement garage?? They really are paving paradise, putting up a parking lot, aren't they?
	Posted by: Teri Cartwright \| June 8, 2006 11:23 AM

	I've been trekking there for six years and it's an amazing place. Can't wait to go skiing there with western standards of equipment and ski lifts. Just do it justice, please, the snow is incredible.
	Posted by: David Beattie London Drayage, LLC \| June 8, 2006 12:03 PM

	My understanding is that they've brought in Jack Zehren to build it.
	Posted by: Dana Mehr Mehr & Assoc. \| June 8, 2006 12:12 PM