Indian Hotels to expand global footprint with 12 launches

The firm's expansion comes at a time when the company has taken flak for its investment in Bermuda-based Orient-Express Hotels going sour

 

A 283-room Taj hotel near the domestic airport here and a 250-room Vivanta by Taj hotel in New Delhi are among the 12 new properties Indian Hotels Company is set to launch this year. The Tata Group-promoted company said the 12 properties would add about 1,500 rooms to its global inventory, increasing its tally to about 17,000 rooms across 137 properties.

The new hotels would be launched under the company’s four brands — Taj, Vivanta by Taj, Gateway and Ginger. The launches would be under various models —ownership, management contracts and joint ventures, according to an Indian Hotels Company presentation.

Last financial year, the company inaugurated seven properties (1,060 rooms overall), but did not launch any property under the Taj brand.

IHC SCORECARD

• 1,500 No. of rooms that the 12 new properties will add to Indian Hotels Company worldwide
• 17,000 Total number of rooms that IHC has across 137 properties globally
• Rs 591 cr Loss that IHCL recorded in 2013-14, an increase of 113% over Rs 277 cr posted in the previous year
• Rs 4,252 cr Total consolidated debt of the firm

A 296-room luxury property in Dubai (Taj Downtown), the 78-room Gateway Resort (National Capital Region), the 150-room Gateway (Hinjewadi, Pune), a 73-room Ginger (Vaishno Devi), a 45-room Ginger (Madgaon, Goa) and a 52-room Gateway (Corbet, Uttarakhand) are among the hotels to be launched this year.

For the five-star luxury hotel near the airport here, joint venture company Taj-GVK and Greenridge Hotels & Resorts (a GVK Company) had made an investment Rs 110 crore.

Indian Hotels Company’s expansion comes at a time when the company has taken flak for its investment in Bermuda-based Orient-Express Hotels going sour. In 2013-14, Indian Hotels Company recorded a loss of Rs 591 crore, against the Rs 277-crore loss a year earlier. The loss was primarily due to diminution in the value of its investment in subsidiaries, especially the one holding direct stake in Orient-Express Hotels. The company took a Rs 687-crore hit due to value erosion in the past financial year.

Indian Hotels Company’s books have total consolidated debt of Rs 4,252 crore. The company has said debts of at least Rs 553 crore (including redemption premium) will mature this year.

Meanwhile, fast moving consumer goods maker ITC has also embarked on an expansion drive for its hotels division. Though the company declined to state the number of hotels it would open this year, ITC is expected to throw open about 6,000 rooms across 50 properties in the next three-four years. Under its luxury brand, ITC will open six properties, including a luxurious, all-suites resort — ITC Grand Bharat — in Manesar in a couple of months. Also to be launched this year is the 106-room ITC Vilasa at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. A second hotel in Kolkata with 500 rooms and a 307-room property in Ahmedabad are scheduled to come up in two-three years.