Environmentalists and farmers have raised concerns over the Assam government’s plans to facilitate luxury hotel development near Kaziranga National Park, involving the Tata Group and the Hyatt Hotels Corporation. On 3 August 2024, the Assam government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) to build a Taj Resort and Spa in Kaziranga at an estimated investment of Rs 120 crore. Earlier in 2023, the state government had announced plans for a proposed Hyatt hotel in the area, with an investment of Rs 100 crore. However, a Hyatt Hotels spokesperson later told Mongabay-India that the company does not have any project in Kaziranga. The proposed hotel developments have drawn opposition from environmentalists and farmers, who have raised concerns over their potential impacts on local communities, agricultural land and the protected ecosystem surrounding Kaziranga National Park.

Locals contend that these hotels in a UNESCO World Heritage Site could have a  “catastrophic” impact on Kaziranga’s fragile ecosystem, teeming with its world-famous elephants, and also displace people who depend on the land for their livelihood. On the other hand, Hyatt has chosen Hathikuli Inglay Pothar as the location for its hotel. However, this area is a traditional habitat for elephants, and locals consider the area a "playground for elephants".
Soneswar Narah, a member of Jeepal Krishak Samiti, said, “These areas provide temporary refuge on higher ground during the floods, but with their construction, the animals will have nowhere to go”. He emphasised the local community's hardships, citing the demolition of Lokhu Gowala’s house on 7 June 2024 by authorities, seen as the initial move to make way for hotel construction.

Mubina Akhtar, a journalist and conservationist, said that the government has allegedly started labelling the people residing on the designated hotel site as “encroachers.” She pointed out that these tribal communities have lived and farmed the land for generations, having been displaced from their original homes by river erosion. She further asked, “How can the forest department authorise a five-star hotel construction in the same area where they won’t even permit digging a well, citing environmental concerns?” Mohan Malakar, a retired PCCF of Assam, stated, “If there’s an elephant corridor and if it serves as a refuge and migratory path for these elephants, such construction shouldn’t be permitted. The movement of elephants must not be impeded. A thorough cost-benefit analysis should be conducted before proceeding with this project.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, an expert member of ICOMOS and various cultural heritage committees, wrote to the Assam Director of Tourism expressing worry about proposed hotel developments in Kaziranga National Park. He stated that building hotels, including a Hyatt property in an elephant habitat, could harm the park's ecology by disrupting important elephant migration routes. The letter emphasises the need to combine environmental conservation with development while acknowledging the former's importance.
In 2024, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took suo motu cognisance, issuing notices over threats to wildlife and lack of clearances under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. However, in July 2025,  the NGT’s Eastern Bench dismissed the petition concerning the construction of two five-star hotels near Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) on 21 February 2025.

The NGT’s Principal Bench had taken suo motu cognisance of a news report highlighting the potential impacts of the proposed hotels on local communities and wildlife and initiated proceedings against the Assam government. Legal experts and local activists have since questioned the verdict, arguing that the NGT’s judicial intervention in the matter was misplaced. 
In June 2026, the Gauhati High Court heard a petition by 20 Adivasi families challenging the land allocation and evictions, issuing notices to the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC). On 12 July, 2026, dozens of police officers in India arrested the prominent Indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley and two other men who were protesting against the project.
Two others surrendered to the court after local cops came looking for them. Police surrounded the house where Mr Doley was staying on Sunday, and took him into custody without an arrest warrant. In which, he was granted bail by the local court on 29 July; however, the government has invoked NSA to detain the environmental activist. The court in its proceedings observed, “In matters where ecological preservation intersects with indigenous survival, the standard apparatus of criminal law cannot be used to suppress local anxieties.”