Do you want to buy a Palace in India? (Part II)

Want to buy a fort? 

Acquiring a fort or haveli costs less than a three-bedroom flat in upscale Delhi or Mumbai. Getting the property in shape is what drains the coffers.

'These properties are hundreds of years old. At a rough estimate, restoring and renovating each room would require up to Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 millon),' says an official involved with the Rajasthan government's initiative to lease out the forts at Badnor, Sarwar and Shahbad.

'A conservation architect will have to be engaged to test each crack, each slab and the thickness and quality of each wall. Bathrooms will have to be added to each room. The process takes at least two or three years.'

S C Sekhar, senior executive vice president of ITC's hotels division, reckons a dilapidated fort takes five years to restore, while an in-use fort can be done in half the time. Restoration experts can charge from 0.5 per cent to 8 per cent of the total budget.

The restoration of the Falaknuma Palace took Indian Hotels Company close to 10 years and cost over Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) per room!

The scale of the work can be daunting. Jal Mahal Resorts has signed a 99-year lease of Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) per year (15 per cent annual increase) with the Rajasthan government to develop 100 acres around Jal Mahal in Jaipur -- hotels, parks, et cetera.

In the last three years, it has spent Rs 65 crore (Rs 650 million) on restoring the Jal Mahal monument alone and the lake in which it is situated. The capacity of the lake has been increased and a drainage line and treatment plant set up.

What was once a stinking nullah is now a pristine water body that leads to a revitalised Jal Mahal which will open to public for the first time in history in the next few days.

It's not a seller's market. Last year, Rajasthan had wanted to lease out Badnor Fort for Rs 50 lakh a year. But converting it into a hotel would need at least Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million).

Contd.