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Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Says About 90% of New Valley Hotels Are Illegal

The public claim raises the prospect of audits or penalties that could hit thousands of local investors and tourism jobs.

Nearly 5,000 hotels built in Kashmir over the last six years are illegal, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said | Representative Image
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Overview

  • Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha told a July 2026 Ethical Tourism Conclave in Srinagar that roughly 5,000 hotels built in the Valley since 2021 are mostly illegal, estimating about 90 percent lack proper approvals.
  • Sinha put the average investment at about ₹15 crore per hotel and said the total private spending could be between ₹75,000 crore and ₹1 lakh crore, with around 90 percent of that capital coming from Kashmiris.
  • He described hoteliers as 'stakeholders of peace' and defended past administrative leniency as a trade-off to build local economic and stability interests.
  • Industry groups and individual hoteliers pushed back, saying many properties reflect lifetime savings and work, while the Tourist Trade Interest Guild defended named businessman Mushtaq Chaya without addressing the wider illegality claim.
  • No formal audit report or enforcement plan has been published yet, leaving open possible outcomes such as regularisation, fines, legal challenges, or political negotiation that would directly affect local livelihoods and the region's fragile tourism recovery.