Dams, factories, IITs and… hotel

The Ashok in New Delhi, which Nehru got built to host a Unesco conference, has completed 60 years

The Ashok wears the scars of the myriad seasons of New Delhi, stains of time marring its once-pristine pink sandstone facade. It’s still grand but no longer counts amongst the fanciest hotels in town. Yet, it was a labour of love for the country’s founders.  In the 1950s, when the public sector had set out to acquire “commanding heights” of the economy, Jawaharlal Nehru, the newly-independent country’s prime minister, decided to build a hotel to host the ninth Unesco conference in New Delhi.  This hotel would host world leaders, ...

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Dams, factories, IITs and… hotel