IHCL signs Taj Barapani with firm behind Umiam resort that sparked protest

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) announced on November 12 that it has signed a 140-key resort in Barapani, Meghalaya, to be branded Taj Barapani. The company's release describes it as a "conversion project" on the banks of Umiam Lake. It does not name the property being converted.

The partner it does name is Umiam Hotels Pvt Ltd. That is the special purpose vehicle (SPV) which, earlier this year, signed the state's concession to turn the government-run Orchid Lake Resort at Umiam into a five-star "Taj Umiam Resort & Spa". The project led to a 12-day hunger strike in Shillong in April and was scaled back after the protest.

What IHCL announced

According to the IHCL release, also carried by BW Hotelier, ETHospitalityWorld and Asian Hospitality, Taj Barapani will have two restaurants, a bar, a café, indoor and outdoor pools, a J Wellness Circle spa and a banquet hall of more than 6,000 sq ft.

IHCL executive vice president Suma Venkatesh said in the release that the hotel would create a "seamless travel circuit across Guwahati, Barapani and Shillong". It names Arun Kumar Rai as Umiam Hotels' managing director.

The release gives no investment figure or opening date. The Shillong Times put the project cost at Rs 300-330 crore in April.

How the Umiam deal took shape

Official statements and reports give this timeline:

• July 8, 2025: An empowered group of ministers chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma decided that no permanent structures would be allowed on Lumpongdeng Island, per a Tourism Department statement (Meghalaya Monitor).
• October 23, 2025: The Tourism Department issued the tender (No. M/D Tour/Tech/98/2024/Pt-II/1).
• December 2025: The department allotted 66 acres on a 60-year lease (ThePrint): about 30 acres at Orchid Lake Resort and 36 on Lumpongdeng Island in the lake.
• February 25, 2026: The Directorate of Tourism and Umiam Hotels signed the concession agreement.
• April 9-20, 2026: Green-Tech Foundation chairman H. Bansiewdor Nonglang went on hunger strike at Malki Ground. He argued a provisional pollution-board consent allowed island villas. On April 20, the government gave a written assurance that the island would be left out, UNI and Batesi TV reported.

North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum backed the protest. Citing RTI documents obtained by the Green-Tech Foundation, he alleged that some of the SPV's directors and promoters were linked to Badri Rai and Company, builder of the Assembly building whose dome collapsed in 2022, and sought scrutiny (The Shillong Times). Figures he had raised in the Assembly put the state's first-year earnings at Rs 4.47 crore. Tourism Minister Timothy D. Shira has put the state's total revenue over the 60-year lease at about Rs 1,982 crore, ThePrint reported.

On August 23, The Shillong Times quoted sources from the project as saying construction would start after the monsoon. They said about 150 villas and a reception building were planned, that the work would take about three years, and that Lumpongdeng had been "completely dropped". IHCL's release does not explain the gap between its 140 keys and those roughly 150 villas.

What it means for Ri-Bhoi

Umiam is in Ri-Bhoi district, on the Guwahati-Shillong road. At an April meeting called by Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal, five nearby villages (Mawlyndep, Umbir, Umniuh, Umsaw and Umiam) backed the resort and asked that local youth get first claim on jobs, The Shillong Times reported. When the Voice of the People Party argued that locals get mostly entry-level jobs, the government said Shillong's two luxury hotels employ 130 locals out of 268 staff (ThePrint).

Where Meghalaya stands

The Taj Barapani signing brings IHCL to 22 hotels in the North East, 16 of them still under development. When IHCL opened Vivanta Meghalaya in Shillong in October 2022, it had nine hotels in the region, four of them under development. In the past month, NEInsider has also reported on Taj, Gateway and Ginger hotels coming to Guwahati under the Adani-IHCL deal and on Kohima's Polo Hotel bidding to become Nagaland's first five-star.

Shira told the Assembly in August that Meghalaya recorded 13.85 lakh tourists in 2023, 16.08 lakh in 2024 and 18.55 lakh in 2025. Union Tourism Ministry figures reported by The Tribune put Meghalaya's 2025 domestic visits at 18.48 lakh. That is second in the North East after Assam (90.55 lakh) and ahead of Sikkim (16.55 lakh). Meghalaya had just 7,116 foreign visits, against Sikkim's 68,992.

What happens next

The Tourism Department has said no construction can begin until it examines and approves the final detailed project report. On the three-year estimate reported in August, opening would be around late 2029; IHCL has given no date. The Green-Tech Foundation has told ThePrint it is not against the Taj brand as long as the project follows existing environmental rules. According to the Tourism Department, the Wetland Rules 2017 and the Meghalaya Water Bodies Rules 2023 bar construction within 50 metres of the lake's high flood level.