With the new Ram temple, Ayodhya is all set for a big change. The temple town on the banks of the Sarayu River bustles with activity. This is where India’s most powerful and influential personalities gathered for the consecration or ‘pran pratishtha’ of the historic temple.
January 22 will be remembered as a day that not only saw the grand opening of the Ram Temple but also changed the course of the city and its people. The mandir is expected to usher in a tourism boom, which will be good for business.
Besides, Ayodhya is also a new hot spot for investments. From real estate developers to hotel owners, airlines to corporates, all eyes are on the city in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This means more jobs for local people and more revenue for the state.
The Transformation of Ayodhya
Ayodhya is getting ready for the Ram temple. Now that all the celebrities have left, it is the ordinary tourists who flock to the temple town.
The development was under construction and the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 11,100 crore was laid in December. The temple city now boasts of a new airport terminal that spans 6,500 square meters and will handle a million passengers every year. Ayodhya Dham railway station was renovated at a cost of Rs 240 crore and now has amenities like air-conditioned rooms for pensioners, dormitories, staff quarters etc.
A greenfield city worth Rs 2,180 crore will also be built on 1,200 acres in Ayodhya. It will have plots set aside for mutras, ashrams, dharamshalas and commercial activities. The Uttar Pradesh government has launched the project to ease traffic jams in anticipation of the tourism surge.
Infrastructure growth also includes connecting highways, upgraded roads, water supply and energy projects.
Gaurav Dayal, commissioner of Ayodhya division, said 102 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) worth about Rs 18,000 crore were signed during the Global Tourism Investors Summit in Ayodhya. Several businessmen have approached the government and district administration expressing strong interest in investing in Ayodhya’s tourism sector.
Under the Ayodhya Master Plan 2031, projects worth Rs 85,000 crore are in the pipeline to upgrade the temple city’s infrastructure.
Hospitality boom in Ayodhya
Currently, Ayodhya has about 17 hotels with approximately 590 rooms. However, there will not be enough to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who will come to visit the Ram Mandir.
Top hotel chains have set their sights on Ayodhya. Over 50 major hotel construction projects are underway in and around the temple town. These include well-known hospital brands such as Taj, Oberoi, Trident, Marriott, Radisson and Ginger.
The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL), a Mumbai-based real estate corporation, will also build the world’s first seven-star vegetarian-only hotel in Ayodhya. “We have received 25 proposals to set up hotels in Ayodhya, one of which is to build a seven-star pure vegetarian hotel,” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said.
O Rama Hotels & Resorts will build one of the largest hotels in the city at a cost of Rs 140 crore. Other major industrial projects will receive an estimated Rs 420 crore investment, according to News18.
Hotel bookings in Ayodhya surged ahead of the consecration ceremony
Ahead of the Ram temple’s consecration, online searches for accommodation in Ayodhya surged. On booking.com, a travel portal, more than 75 percent of the places selected for stay were not available. The platform has a list of 20 hotels, 12 apartments, 12 entire homes, seven places to stay and six guesthouses.
Several hotels and other accommodations have reportedly hiked their prices, with some increasing by 200 times the usual price, a News18 report said.
By mid-December, hotel rooms priced at 17,000 rupees a night were selling for 73,000 rupees. The Ayodhya tent city, which has 30 luxury air-conditioned tents, was fully booked for January 22, with each tent selling for Rs 30,000 per night. The tent city staff expects 100% occupancy within weeks of the Ram Temple opening.
Apart from hotels, the Lodha group also plans to develop residential plots, villas and high-rise luxury apartments in Ayodhya. The price of land also shot up.
“The growing interest of realtors and hoteliers in the city has led to a three-fold jump in land prices in the recent past as prominent developers from Mumbai and Delhi have been buying plots of land,” Jaideep Dang, head of hotels and hospitality, India at real estate firm services JLL, quoted by Business Today.
Airlines and railways
Indian airlines such as IndiGo and Air India Express have launched multiple flights connecting major cities to Ayodhya. Other airlines such as Akasa Air and SpiceJet have unveiled plans to improve air travel to Ayodhya.
Arrangements have also been made to accept charter flights at the newly opened airport. Over 100 charter planes arrived at the airport before the dedication.
Indian Railways also introduced 200 ‘Aastha Special Trains’ to Ayodhya after 22 January. Pilgrims will be able to access these services in Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi. There will also be trains from the Northeast, most likely from Guwahati in Assam.
Big increase in tourist visits to Ayodhya
The Ram Temple will support India’s burgeoning spiritual tourism industry.
Three to five thousand visitors are likely to visit the city every day for at least a month after the opening, CNBCTV18 reported.
With more than $10 billion in investments made in new airports, renovated railway stations, municipalities and improved roads, Ayodhya is expected to attract about 50 million to 10 million visitors each year, according to a report by Jefferies, a US investment bank and financial services firm. said.
Ram mandir in Ayodhya spurs job creation
Before the opening of the Ram Mandir, hospitality, travel and tourism had created 20,000 jobs in Ayodhya, according to an Economic Times report. More job opportunities will be created with the construction of hotels and real estate, as well as an increase in tourist traffic, he added.
Randstad India’s chief commercial officer, Yeshab Giri, predicts the creation of 20,000 to 25,000 permanent and temporary jobs. This figure is likely to grow steadily each year.
And not only Ayodhya will benefit. Even neighboring cities like Lucknow, Kanpur and Gorakhpur are expected to benefit.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has estimated that the consecration ceremony alone will generate Rs 1 trillion in business across the country.
“This event not only resonates with religious sentiments but also leads to a surge in economic activities. The faith and trust of the people is leading to the establishment of many new businesses based on the traditional economic system of the country,” Praveen Khandelwal, national general secretary of CAIT, told news agency PTI.
