Tatas will add 3,000 mid segment rooms

Roots Corporation Ltd (RCL), a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) is foraying into three-star hospitality category in a big way by targeting to add over 3,000 rooms with the launch of Ginger budget hotels at select cities across the country by March 2008.

Leading tourist and pilgrim cities to which it is foraying include Hardwar, Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Puna, Durgapur and Nashik. The Thiruvananthapuram Ginger is scheduled to be opened on September 29, the Poona hotel in the next two weeks, and Hardwar, Bhubaneswar and Pune cities by March 2007.

Work has commenced in Goa, Nashik, Pondicherry and Agartala, and will also commence in Tirupur, Varanasi, Pantnagar, Baroda and Ahmedabad, amongst other destinations in the next couple of months.

The Tata group's IHCL operates Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, and is one of the largest group of hotels in South Asia, with the earliest one being the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai which opened in 1903.

Briefing reporters on its future plans on the eve of the launch of the 100-room hotel in Mysore, RCL Chief Executive Officer Prabhat Pani said on Monday that the IHCL's focus was on providing three-star hospitality to the mid-market segments "" new business locations, new industrial hubs, SEZ, IT and ITeS centres.

"The biggest growth is in the three-star and below in India. In these cities, there is no market yet for the 5-star category. Therefore, the focus is on a GenNext category of hotels," he said.