The state-run India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is planning to divest three more of its hotels.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved plans to sell the Hotel Lake View Ashok in Bhopal, Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok in Guwahati and Hotel Bharatpur Ashok.

The committee said that the decision had been made because “running and managing hotels on professional lines is not the work of the government”.

As part of the divestment policy, the hotels will be leased back to state governments, which will then have the option of upgrading the hotels and securing management contracts with the private sector. The committee said that the states in question – Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Rajasthan – have all “exercised their options accordingly”.

In the case of Bhopal and Guwahati, ITDC is divesting its 51% share in the joint venture formed to operate the hotels, while in the case of Bharatpur, which was only managed by ITDC, the property is being returned to the state government.

Last year, the government announced plans to divest 14 out of 16 hotels, located in Delhi, Patna, Jammu, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Bhopal, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Guwahati, Mysore, Puducherry and Itanagar. This total had already been reduced from 34.