Taj Mansingh Hotel auction flops, Indian Hotels Company sole bidder

A Business Standard report read that the New Delhi Municipal Council’s ambitious plan to auction the Taj Mansingh Hotel has almost drawn a blank, with only Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the current operator, bidding for the property. The NDMC will now have to conduct a fresh round of auction for the luxury hotel, thereby delaying the process by at least several months.

Thursday was the last day for submission of bids for the Taj Mansingh as well as two other hotels in the capital —the Connaught and Hotel Asian International — built on NDMC land. In contrast to the Taj, the two lesser-known hotels have got three bidders each, allowing the auction process to move forward.

A new auction date will be decided for the Taj Mansingh (as the hotel is widely known, based on its Mansingh Road address), an official said. The tender rules said the bid process would be annulled in case there were less than three bidders. An official at the NDMC who is part of the tender process did not respond to calls. SBI Capital Markets is the transaction advisor to the auction.

Surinder Singh, an AAP legislator from Delhi and an NDMC member, said the current auction process of the Taj Mansingh was no less than a ‘’conspiracy’’. He told that the next tender should be done properly to attract more bidders.

The cold response from the hotel industry was unexpected, especially at a time when the sector is seeing an uptrend. Representatives of hotel companies said they were not enthused with the financial terms and certain conditions of the tender. In spite of a relaxation in certain conditions in the second tender floated by the NDMC in April, a number of hotel companies failed to qualify. Some said the responses to queries raised by prospective bidders in a pre-bid meeting were not satisfactorily answered.

One of the conditions that put off companies was that if a bidder failed to meet the eligibility conditions specified in the tender documents, the security amount (INR 250 million) was to be kept by the NDMC as ‘liquidity damages’. The first tender was floated by the NDMC in December last year and the auction was supposed to be held on January 30, 2018.

This date was postponed multiple times after prospective bidders raised several queries and finally the tender lapsed. Companies said the tender conditions were too ‘restrictive’. The first tender did not allow a cross-holding of five per cent or more between two bidders. It said a bidder must own assets as well as a brand which is not the usual practice in the hotel industry. These were relaxed in the second tender.

Some companies also said the financial demands of NDMC from the winner was on the higher side. It did not change in the second tender. The next operator of this property will have to assure a minimum revenue share of 17.25% and a minimum guarantee fee of Rs 29.64 million per month, with a clause for escalation, according to current terms. There is also an upfront non-refundable fee of INR 533 mn. NDMC is seeking a performance security of INR 355 mn as well. The lease period for the property was kept at 33 years, the same duration awarded to IHCL over four decades ago, in 1976.

An expert specialising in hotel industry related transactions said that the auction process of Taj Mansingh was being conducted with a ‘landlord’ attitude. “There is no rent free period for the winner. The winning firm will have to start paying money to NDMC from day one even though the actual hotel operation and income may take multiple months to begin”, he said. The hotel needs a complete renovation and it may take more than a year during which the regular guests of Taj Mansingh would have to be shifted to other hotels, said an industry executive. “You cannot re-open it and expect a tariff of INR 10,000 per room from first month.’’

(Source: Business Standard)

The types of Insurance a Winery needs and claiming a successful business

Owning and operating a winery is complex and demanding. Wineries face just about every business risk imaginable as they grow grapes, blend wines, and sell their products in a variety of ways. Winery owners must manage everything from growing and harvesting delicate crops to the financial and legal implications of getting their wines to market. You likely need several business insurance policies and numerous special endorsements in order to be covered by a comprehensive winery insurance program.
It is best to enlist the help of a trusted advisor or a Lawyer, such as an independent Trusted Choice insurance agent, who can help you identify and find coverage for all of your complex risks.


A winery may be a family business passed down for generations, or a new venture that you’ve been dreaming of your entire life. Wineries and vineyards are complicated businesses with vast rewards and no shortage of risks. You wear many hats in order to run your business—from farmer, to scientist, to marketer, and many more—yet so many things are simply out of your control.
Leaving the future of your winery to chance could be devastating. You need winery insurance to protect you from the financial losses that can accompany damaged crops, spoiled wine, lawsuits, and other unforeseen events that can cost you everything.
Even a small winery must insure every step of the winemaking process. As you grow, harvest, ferment, bottle, and sell your wines, one unexpected problem can destroy your thriving business overnight.

There are so many risks which are associated with a winery operations
These are just a few of the things that can go wrong at your winery or vineyard:
• Loans, Mortgages, Legal/Lawyer issues
. Guests on your property or at an event slip and fall
• Guests at your winery damage or destroy grapes, finished wine, or equipment
• Grapes in transit are crushed
• Leakage, spillage, or accidental mixing destroys wine in process
• Insecticides used on grape crops drift on to neighboring properties
• Contamination and product recalls
• Winemaking equipment or agricultural equipment breakdown
• Extreme weather or natural disasters
• Wildfires, insect infestation, and plant diseases
Wine that is in storage comes with its own set of risks, including:
• Spillage or leakage
• Fire
• Theft or vandalism
• Utility or refrigeration outages
• Supply chain or logistics problems or delays
• Transportation and trucking exposures, from poorly trained drivers to accidents and truck refrigeration breakdown
Wineries Need Coverage For Every Area of Their Business so as to claim back and recover.
Every winery needs a customized package of property, liability, automobile, crime, liquor liability, and other winery insurance policies to protect them from financial loss. Talk to your independent insurance agent about the specifics of your winery operation, and your need for the following types of winery insurance or vineyard insurance.
Property coverage for wineries: Wineries need business property coverage to protect
• Buildings and their contents, including wine-making machinery and equipment
• Inventory and stock
• Business interruption coverage to pay for ongoing expenses after a covered property loss
You can add endorsements to your winery property insurance policy in order to add more customized coverage. Talk to your independent insurance agent about your need for the following special property coverage designed for wineries.
• Contract cancellation coverage that helps you pay for attorney fees, marketing expenses, and other related costs if you are unable to fulfill customer contracts (e.g., you cannot fill orders due to a supply shortage).
• Tank collapse coverage pays for expenses related to processing water after a tank collapse.
• Tank leakage coverage provides protection for leakage of completed or in-process wine from a tank or other container.
• Mobile equipment coverage pays for damage to agricultural equipment (irrigation and harvesting equipment, etc.).
Crop insurance for wineries: Without viable grapes, you would be unable to produce wine, so protecting your grape harvest should be your first line of defense. Wineries need crop insurance for the costs of crop damage due to weather, vine infections, insect infestations, fires, floods, and other potential hazards. Crop insurance will not protect your grapes once they have been harvested, and certain perils such as earthquakes may be excluded from your crop insurance policy. You may need to purchase additional earthquake coverage if you live in an area where it is necessary.
Coverage for wine in storage or in transit: Once your grapes have been harvested and your wines blended, you must take steps to ensure that your valuable product is protected no matter where it is. You may need different policies for wine that is stored on your property and wine that is stored offsite. Your agent can help you determine all of the coverage that you need.
Wine that is in transit also needs coverage for physical loss or damage. Inland marine insurance for wineries protects against direct physical loss or damage to property or stock while it is being transported.
General liability insurance for wineries: General liability insurance provides broad protection for third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. If a guest slips and falls during a vineyard tour, or your wine causes a customer to become ill, your general liability policy pays for direct costs (medical bills, etc.) as well as attorney fees, court costs, settlements, and judgments if you are sued.
General liability insurance also provides claim coverage for product liability, advertising liability, slander, and libel claims against your winery.
Equipment breakdown coverage for wineries: Wineries need equipment breakdown coverage to protect against costs associated with the sudden and accidental breakdown of machinery and equipment. It pays to repair or replace the equipment as well as any business interruption costs that accompany it.
Contamination and spoilage coverage for wineries: Wineries need special coverage for product losses due to contamination. Contamination and spoilage coverage pays for certain losses if a batch of wine is spoiled or contaminated due to a refrigeration breakdown, utility interruption, or some other type of foreign substance.
Liquor liability coverage for wineries: Any establishment that sells, services, or furnishes alcoholic beverages needs liquor liability insurance for instances of bodily injury and property damage that result from selling or serving alcohol.


Operations at a winery often extend far beyond growing grapes and making wine. Many wineries or vineyards invite the general public onto their grounds for tours, tasting, and other special events. You may run a year-round tasting room, host special tasting events, and even allow others to rent space on your premises for parties, weddings, dinners, and other events.
Inviting the general public onto your premises to consume wine and food and engage in other activities heightens the risks for your business. And many of these events require other businesses and vendors to perform services on your premises as well. An event might require a caterer, musicians, a florist, and even additional workers that may or may not be employed by you.
If you host even small events at your vineyard or winery, you need to work closely with your independent insurance agent to ensure that all of the additional exposures are addressed with tailored winery insurance policies. What’s more, your customers and any vendors that they work with also need to have appropriate insurance (and show proof of coverage) in order to proceed with an event on your property.
Other Winery Insurance to Consider
Aside from major property and liability risks, wineries and vineyards likely need several other insurance policies to protect them from financial harm and unexpected events. Talk to your Trusted Choice agent about your need for the following.
• Commercial auto insurance protects your fleet of trucks and any other vehicles owned by your winery. In addition, if employees drive personal vehicles for business use, you need hired and non-owned auto liability insurance.
• Crime coverage protects your business if an employee or a group of employees engage in theft, forgery, or fraud that damages your business.
• Workers’ compensation insurance is required for any business that has employees. It protects your workers, such as those who use operate heavy equipment or who harvest grapes in the vineyard, from the costs of work-related injuries and illnesses.
• Cyber liability insurance protects your winery if you are the victim of a cyber breach. If your computer network or website is hacked and confidential customer or vendor information is exposed, the damage to your reputation and bottom line can be insurmountable.
• Some insurance companies offer a special policy for wineries called chemical drift insurance or pollution liability insurance. If you spray insecticides or other chemicals to protect your crops, those insecticides can drift onto neighboring properties and cause property damage or health problems for others. Chemical drift coverage can offer protection for physical injuries to people, crops, or animals as a result of chemical drift or overspray from your vineyard.
• Product recall coverage helps pay for costs related to removing recalled, damaged, or dangerous products from the marketplace.
• Employment practices liability coverage protects you if a current or former employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices.
How to Find Winery Insurance Tailored to Your Business
Like any business owner, you might have unpaid loans, winery and vineyard owners need a trusted advisor who can help them find the best insurance coverage to protect their livelihood from the many potential—and costly—problems that can arise. Whether it is dangers to the general public or your employees, or unforeseen events like fires, storms, and theft, you need the right combination of coverage that addresses whatever you might be exposed to.
An independent insurance agent will get to know you and your business. He or she can work with multiple reputable companies who specialize in winery insurance. Contact a local agent today to get started.

THE WORLD OF WINE AND SPIRITS

The World of Wine & Spirits from HEMANT SINGH

Beverages are potable drinks which have thirst-quenching, refreshing, stimulating and nourishing qualities. By refreshing, one means the replenishment of fluid loss from the body due to perspiration. Simulation results in increase of the heart beat and blood pressure. This is due to the intake of spirits (alcohol) or tea (thein) and coffee (coffein). Nourishment is provided by the nutrients in the beverages, especially fruit juices. Most of the beverages supply energy in the form of sugar or
alcohol. They also provide other nutrients like mineral salts and vitamins. For example, milk gives calcium and citrus fruits give vitamin C.
Generally, people drink for one or more of six reasons; to quench thirst, to get drunk, to enjoy a social setting (social drinking), to enjoy the taste of the beverage, to feed an addiction (alcoholism), or as part of a religious or traditional ceremony or custom (proposing toast).

FOOD AND ACCOMPANIMENTS

Food and Accompaniments from HEMANT SINGH

Accompaniments are highly flavoured seasonings of various kinds offered with certain dishes. The object of offering accompaniments with certain dishes is to improve the flavor of the food or to counteract its richness, eg. apple sauce with roast pork. Many dishes have separate accompaniments and as they are not always mentioned on the menu, the waiter must know them. He should always have specific accompaniments ready for service at the right time. Hot adjuncts come with the dish from the kitchen, but cold sauces are often to be found at the buffet or sideboard. They should be served directly with a dish to which they belong. They should be served from the guest’s left on to the top right of his plate (not on the rim). While serving from a sauceboat, the boat should be on an underdish or small plate, carried on the palm of the left hand. In serving, the sauceboat, lip should point towards the guest’s plate. The spoon, or ladle, should be passed over the lip. Sauces are not to
be poured from a boat.

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RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT

Restaurant Equipments from HEMANT SINGH

The operating equipment used in hotels / restaurants play an important role in attracting customers. The restaurant operating equipment include service equipment, furniture, fixtures and linen
all of which squarely reflects the standard and style of the restaurant. The atmosphere of a restaurant is largely affected by the kind of furniture used.

The furniture should be utilitarian and elegant to look at. Very often by using different materials, designs and finishes and by careful arrangement, one can change the atmosphere and appearance of the food service area to suit different occasions.

Elegant and attractive serviceware, colourful and clean dishes, quality plates and glassware add to the decor of a restaurant. However, several factors have to be considered while selecting the equipment.

· Standard of the restaurant
· Types of service
· Décor and theme of the restaurant
· Type of clientele
· Durability of equipment
· Ease of maintenance
· Availability when stocks runs out for replacement
· Storage
· Flexibility of use
· Price factors
· Standardization

A hotel/restaurant should be well stocked with appropriate equipment to provide quality service. For multipurpose use and to cut down costs, most hotels/restaurants standardize equipment in terms of size and colour.

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DESSERTS - ICE CREAMS

Ice cream from HEMANT SINGH

Ice cream, or iced cream as it was originally called, was once narrowly defined as a luxury dessert made of cream, sugar, and sometimes fruit congealed over ice. But today it is an universally cherished favorite dish. The wide variety of ice creams and their varying cost ranging from low to high has made it delightful dish. Our love affair with ice cream is centuries old. The ancient
Greeks, Romans, and Jews were known to chill wines and juices. This practice evolved into fruit ices and, eventually, frozen milk and cream mixtures. The Italians were especially fond of the frozen
confection that by the sixteenth century was being called ice cream. Because ice was expensive and refrigeration had not yet been invented, ice cream was still considered a treat for the wealthy
or for those in colder climates. Furthermore, the process of making ice cream was cumbersome and time-consuming. A mixture of dairy products, eggs, and flavorings was poured into a pot and beaten
while, simultaneously, the pot was shaken up and down in a pan of salt and ice.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast from HEMANT SINGH

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, typically eaten in the morning. The word derives from the idea of breaking the involuntary fast due to sleep. Breakfast is considered by many food experts to be a most important meal of the day. Traditionally, breakfast is a large cooked meal eaten before work and designed to carry people through a large part of the day. The erosion of the cooked breakfast has been an ongoing trend in the Western world, since at least the early 20th century, coinciding with late waking times than when most Westerners had agricultural occupations, starting early in the morning.
Breakfast in hotels may be served in the hotel restaurant or dining room, in a breakfast room set aside for this one meal, or in the guest's bedroom or suite. The current trend is that most of the hotels
are offering breakfast as complementary (bed and breakfast tariff).

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