Bharat Hotels to invest $50 million on luxury hotel in Dubai

Thursday, 19 December 2002, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Bharat Hotels Limited, one of India's leading privately owned hotel chains, has decided to foray into the crowded Dubai market by setting up a luxury hotel. The hotel will be built over a 20,000 square feet area in The Palm island, located in the centre of the Jumeirah resorts area, said Lalit Suri, chairman and managing director of Bharat Hotels Ltd. "We have earmarked an investment of $50 billion for setting up the hotel. We will get possession of the land in August next year and the construction will start immediately after that," Suri told IANS. The construction of the hotel, which will have 300-400 rooms, is likely to be completed by the end of 2005, said the hotelier-turned-parliamentarian. Suri is now a member of the Rajya Sabha, parliament's house of elders. "Initially, we will hold 100 percent stake in the hotel. But later we may give a 20 percent stake to a partner in Dubai and another 10 to 20 percent to an Indian entrepreneur," he added. The proposed luxury hotel in Dubai will be Suri's first overseas venture. Bharat Hotels is primarily engaged in the business of owning and operating hotels. The company offers over 1,600 rooms through seven deluxe hotels in the country. All hotels of the company are operated under the 'The Grand' banner - The Grand Inter-Continental hotels in New Delhi, Srinagar, Mumbai and Goa along with The Grand hotels in Bangalore, Udaipur and Khajuraho. Suri, who is also president of the Hotel Association of India, said the Dubai property would also be run under The Grand brand. Commenting on the current hotel business scenario, Suri said in-bound tourism in India continues to be sluggish and most of the hotel chains are witnessing sharply lower business even during peak tourist season. "This year the bookings are 25-30 percent lower than what was projected earlier. We don't expect any significant change in the scenario over the next few months," he said.
Source: IANS