Tata Group plans to list Ginger hotels

The Tata Group promoted Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is planning to list its two-star economy buget hotel chain Ginger Hotels (Roots Corporation Ltd) on stock exchanges as part of the company’s expansion plans.

The hotel chain would be listed in the next couple of years depending on a ‘series of circumstances’, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group told the shareholders of IHCL during its annual general meeting (AGM), today in Mumbai.

Currently IHCL has 21 Ginger hotels and targets to expand it to 80 hotels over the next five years.

The $71 billion Tata Group’s hospitality arm IHCL has four hotel brands – two-star economy in Ginger, upscale chain of hotels in Taj Gateway, four-star Taj Vivanta and five-star Taj hotels. IHCL has about 110 hotels worldwide with about 14,000 rooms, including Ginger with close to 6,000 keys.

Ratan Tata said IHCL would spend Rs 959 crore in new projects spread over the next 2-3 years. The company has raised Rs 700 core for funding various projects in the past few years.

IHCL is in the process of building a new hotel and convention centre – Sea Rock – in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai and is opening a hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad will re-open later this year and the Pierre, a Taj group hotel which re-opened in June 2009 in New York, has emerged as a prestige hotel in the US market. IHCL is also planning expansion in select destinations, said the Tata Group chief, who will retire by December 2012.

After reopening the heritage wing of Taj Mahal palace hotel in Mumbai, Ratan Tata had said that the average room rate (ARR) may increase to Rs 22,000-Rs 24000. The current occupancy rate is 62 percent and ARR is Rs 9,000.

After the 26/11 terrorist attack, the insurance company has paid Rs 180 crore and the Tata Group has spent Rs 175 crore to reconstruct the heritage wing. The total insurance cover is of Rs 700 crore, he said.