ITC on expansion mode
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ITC Hotels has picked a 26% stake in a joint venture with Espirit Hotels to build a luxury hotel in Hyderabad. The stake is valued at INR 45 crore. “The project is at a planning stage and would be launched in this calendar year,” a senior executive at ITC Hotels, was quoted saying in an Economic Times report.The proposed project is close to the existing ITC Kakatiya at Hyderabad in which the hotel chain holds 68%, and also operates. ITC is also looking to add another 1,500 rooms to its hotels portfolio and enhance its capacity by 50% over the next three-to-four years. The report said the expansion would either be through new acquisitions and developments or management contracts under its four brands-ITC Hotels, WelcomHotel, Fortune Hotels and WelcomHeritage Hotels. The company may also brand some of its upcoming hotels under the Luxury Collection by Starwood brand. The hotels division of the Kolkata-based cigarette to retail conglomerate currently operates, owns and manages about 110 hotels spread across the four brands. “ITC plans to have a portfolio of 150 hotels. In the premium segment we have 3-4 hotels under construction and another 6-7 hotels on drawing board,” the executive was reported saying.Earlier, at the group’s annual general meeting in May this year, chairman YC Deveshwar had said that ITC will invest US$2 billion on expansion of its hotels business and all the funding will be done through internal resources. ITC currently has a joint venture with Maharaja Heritage Resorts, where it has an ownership interest of 50% and operates 53 hotels.
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