Plans for a major ski resort in the Indian Himalayas have suffered a new set back as the government have issued a cancellation notice for the plans, first launched with a wave of positive PR six years ago but bogged down for the past few years in legal arguments.

The Ski Village concept plan was first proposed back in 2004 by Alfred Ford, a member of the Ford Motors family and chairman of the Himalayan Ski Village project, was for a major ski resort close to the established tourism centre of Manali in the Indian Himalayas, which already has rudimentary ski facilities and world famous heli-skiing (www.himachal.com) in the area.

It was given the go ahead by the then government in late 2005 and a detailed project report submitted in March. 2007, detailing plans to construct 170 seven star rooms, 1000 four star rooms and 100 chalets on 93.1 hectares of land. The project was said to be the country’s largest tourism proposal with a value of $350m.

The project has stalled following the election of a new government however, with claims and counter claims from the government and the developers that the project was unpopular/popular with locals people and that the developers hadn’t/had carried out adequate environmental assessments, among other things.

Himalayan Ski Village are reported to be appealing the government cancellation notice.