IHCL’s New Brands Key To Achieve Ambitious Growth Plan Over Next Five Years

Indian Hotels Co. aims to double its portfolio to 700 hotels and revenue to Rs 1,500 crore within the next five years, according to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal. During this period, the company expects to achieve a 20% return on capital employed.

The company announced this on Tuesday while revealing its ‘Vision 2030’.

While talking to NDTV Profit regarding the ambitious growth plan of the country's largest hospitality company over next five years, Chhatwal said that many of its newer brands will mature and contribute in this phase of the company’s growth.

“Many new businesses have grown with it (Taj Hotels). And with the growth in those businesses, other brands, we can address the needs and wants (of consumers). So (we will operate in) various tier 2, 3, 4 markets, experiential tourism and spiritual tourism. Doing that, I think many of our brands will become mature brands in this phase of our growth,” he said.

According to the top executive, “The demand is going to definitely outpace supply for a minimum three-year period because not much got built during (the) Covid period.”

Chhatwal added, “It's not a question of just getting hotel projects completed, but also getting many started or getting them to an advanced stage of development. It just takes time for supply to get built.”

The hospitality major's CEO reiterated that the company's plans for 2030 were realistic. “Given India's growth story, given India's long-term outlook, as projected by various international and Indian gurus—whether it's IMF or RBI or the growth figures that we get at a 6.5% plus GDP growth—and a country that is poised to become No. 3 world economy, definitely number 4 next year, I think within India, the hospitality and tourism sector is very well-positioned to take advantage,” he said.

He said that the new India is not the same as it was in the last 75 years post-Independence, and that opens up opportunities for IHCL.

“In this new India, there is going to be more interest in this sector with the infrastructure capabilities that are being created as we speak, in terms of highways, trains, 300 airports by 2047. Each airport location will need hotels. And if one of our brands is there at every airport, we'll be very happy. So, that is the size of the opportunity coming our way,” he said.

Shares of Indian Hotels Co. closed 1.94% higher at Rs 751.5 apiece on the NSE on Tuesday, while the benchmark Nifty 50 closed 0.28% higher at 23,518.5.