Jan. 27 – To encourage more hotels to open prior to the Commonwealth Games, India is giving a five-year tax holiday for new hotels completed in the national capital region before March 31.

The rule will apply to 2, 3 and 4 star hotels and exclude 5 star hotels. An estimated 100,000 tourists are expected to arrive in New Delhi when the Commonwealth Games start on October 3. Currently, the city only has 10,000 hotel rooms and will need 30,000 more for the games.  Union Secretary of Tourism Sujit Banerjee  told Zee News that to fill in the gap, Haryana will provide 6,700 rooms, the Delhi Development Authority with 2,300 rooms and Uttar Pradesh would provide 2,000 rooms.

More hotel rooms numbering 11,000 will come from Paharganj and Karol Bagh guest houses in Delhi while another 3,000 rooms will be provided by bed and breakfast deals in Delhi and Haryana.