NRI New York Hotel chain opens 27 hotels in 21 cities by 2011 with USD 1.5 billion

Hyderabad, January 10, 2008
Satish Sharma

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister inaugurated the group's first hotel, the The Hampshire Plaza Hotell, a 100 room facility and first Business hotel in the city.

NRI Sant Singh Chatwal, Chairman and CEO of New York-based hotel chain Hampshire Hotels and Resorts LLC (HHR) plans 27 hotels in 21 cities with USD 1.5 billion investment in India by 2011.

• Next hotel will be a super luxury brand in Kochi in Kerala.
• Aside from this we will look at opening our boutique chain of hotels in Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Mohali, Indore, Bhopal, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur and one more in Hyderabad. We also have plans to open our first Heritage Hotel in India at Amritsar
  

Last week, NRI Sant Singh Chatwal attended the NRI semmelan 2008 in Chandigarh and said he was ready to spend Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore in hotel industry in Punjab provided he was not made to wait along the corridors of bureaucrats. “I have a cheque book in my pocket and prepared to invest right now but the government should provide a right atmosphere for the same."

Asked that he made a similar statement 10 years ago, Sant Singh said he was ready to invest then also but no one took him seriously. “As the Punjab government did not respond, I invested in southern states. I plan to set up 25 hotels in Southern cities, including Hyderbad, Cochin, Bangalore and others. First hotel in the south would be inaugurated on January 10 and another in April.

“I feel that Mohali is now ready for setting up a seven-star hotel and other cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar are ready for five-star hotels. However, first I will opt to set up a heritage hotel at Amritsar. I am prepared to take Gobindgarh Fort at Amritsar for setting up the hotel,” he added.

“I have talked to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today in this regard and if he clears the proposal, I would go ahead with it soon,” he said, adding that he had a plan to invest Rs 5,000 crore in next four years in India in hotel industry

Among its convenient amenities and fabulous restaurants 'Cassia and Hydrate,' the Hampshire Plaza Hotel also brings to India, the famed Bombay Palace chain of restaurants that has created waves across the world, including US, Canada, Malaysia, Hong Kong, UK and Hungary.

NRI Sant Singh Chatwal, Chairman and CEO of New York